Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimization of importance factors in inverse planning.

Inverse treatment planning starts with a treatment objective and obtains the solution by optimizing an objective function. The clinical objectives are usually multifaceted and potentially incompatible with one another. A set of importance factors is often incorporated in the objective function to parametrize trade-off strategies and to prioritize the dose conformality in different anatomical structures. Whereas the general formalism remains the same, different sets of importance factors characterize plans of obviously different flavour and thus critically determine the final plan. Up to now, the determination of these parameters has been a 'guessing' game based on empirical knowledge because the final dose distribution depends on the parameters in a complex and implicit way. The influence of these parameters is not known until the plan optimization is completed. In order to compromise properly the conflicting requirements of the target and sensitive structures, the parameters are usually adjusted through a trial-and-error process. In this paper, a method to estimate these parameters computationally is proposed and an iterative computer algorithm is described to determine these parameters numerically. The treatment plan selection is done in two steps. First, a set of importance factors are chosen and the corresponding beam parameters (e.g. beam profiles) are optimized under the guidance of a quadratic objective function using an iterative algorithm reported earlier. The 'optimal' plan is then evaluated by an additional scoring function. The importance factors in the objective function are accordingly adjusted to improve the ranking of the plan. For every change in the importance factors, the beam parameters need to be re-optimized. This process continues in an iterative fashion until the scoring function is saturated. The algorithm was applied to two clinical cases and the results demonstrated that it has the potential to improve significantly the existing method of inverse planning. It was noticed that near the final solution the plan became insensitive to small variations of the importance factors.
Local Refinement for Stereo Regularization

Stereo matching is an inherently difficult problem due to ambiguous and noisy texture. The non-convexity and non-differentiability makes local linear (or quadratic) approximations poor, thereby preventing the use of standard local descent methods. Therefore recent methods are predominantly based on discretization and/or random sampling of some class of approximating surfaces (e.g. planes). While these methods are very efficient in generating a rough surface estimate, via either fusion of proposals or label propagation, the end result is usually not as smooth as desired. In this paper we show that, if the objective function is decomposed correctly, local refinement of candidate solutions can be performed using an ADMM approach. This allows searching over more general function classes, thereby resulting in visually more appealing smooth surface estimations.
Search-Based Junit Test Case Generation of Code Using Object Instances and Genetic Algorithm

To ensure software quality software testing is done . Test data generation is one of the more expensive parts of software testing. So, for reducing software cost and development time automation of test data generation is required. The object-oriented paradigm can be challenging for generating test data, due to some aspects of its features like abstract class, encapsulation, inheritance and visibility. To reach high code coverage of object oriented code search based test data generation technique is used. Proposed approach show that how efficiency and effectiveness of search based test data generation using static analysis. System takes input as different java class files then instances are generated for that classes then generate sequence of method call for whole code coverage then using genetic algorithm which is very useful and work efficiently when there is large search space it use to reach test target and finally generate test cases in Junit format which are helpful for all developers to perform unit testing.
Immunoglobulin-Secreting Cells of Maternal Origin Can Be Detected in B Cell-Deficient Mice1

Abstract It is well known that the transfer of immunoglobulins (Igs) from mother to young via milk contributes to the offspring's immune defense. The present study suggests that not only is IgG transmitted to progeny, but that functional maternal Ig-secreting cells (or B cells) can also be transferred to the neonate. We have used B cell-deficient (μ−/−) mice and found that a high proportion of them obtain long-lasting, partial reconstitution of their serum Ig levels if born to μ+/− mothers. In some of these serum IgG-positive μ−/− mice, Ig-secreting cells were detected in spleen and bone marrow. To ensure that cells of maternal origin were present in the progeny, μ−/− offspring born to μ+/− dams transgenic for green fluorescent protein (GFP) were used. In spleens and bone marrow from some of these μ−/−GFP−/− offspring, GFP-positive cells were detected, which demonstrated that cells of maternal origin could infiltrate the progeny. In addition, splenic Ig-secreting cells were detected in μ−/− mice that were born to μ−/− dams and transferred to a lactating μ+/+ foster dam at birth. This indicates that maternal Ig-secreting cells can be transferred postnatally via milk.
Pulsed Radiofrequency for Radicular Pain Due to a Herniated Intervertebral Disc—An Initial Report

Abstract: Pulsed radiofrequency (PRF) has been used for the treatment of radicular pain, due to a herniated intervertebral disc, but so far the data are anecdotal. This is a retrospective study on 13 consecutive patients with this type of pain, at levels L3 to S1. All patients had a diagnosis confirmed by imaging, all had neurological abnormalities, and all were scheduled for surgical intervention. All 12 patients who had a profession had stopped working. Treatment consisted of application of PRF to the dorsal root ganglion of the affected segmental nerve, or in the case of S1 to the segmental nerve at the level of the S1 foramen.
The Social and Cognitive Impacts of E-Commerce on Modern Organizations

The Social and Cognitive Impacts of E-Commerce on Modern Organizations includes articles addressing the social, cultural, organizational, and cognitive impacts of e-commerce technologies and advances on organizations around the world. Looking specifically at the impacts of electronic commerce on consumer behavior, as well as the impact of e-commerce on organizational behavior, development, and management in organizations. This important new book aims to expand the overall body of knowledge regarding the human aspects of electronic commerce technologies and utilization in modern organizations and to assist researchers and practitioners to devise more effective systems for managing the human side of e-commerce.
Development of Real-Time 3-D Photoacoustic Imaging System Employing Spherically Curved Array Transducer

Photoacoustic (PA) imaging is a promising imaging modality to visualize specific living tissues based on the light absorption coefficients without dyeing. In this paper, a real-time PA imaging system with a tunable laser was newly developed with an originally designed spherically curved array transducer. Five different series of experiments were conducted to validate the PA measurement system. The peak frequency of the transducer response was 17.7 MHz, and a volume-imaging rate of 3-D volume imaging was 10–20 volumes per second. The spatial resolution of imaging was 90– $105~\mu \text{m}$ along both the axial and lateral directions. The developed imaging system could measure a difference on an absorption coefficient of gold nanorods. Additionally, the PA imaging could visualize the in vivo microvasculatures of a human hand. This PA imaging system with higher spatial–temporal resolution and the tunable laser further should enhance our understanding of not only basic properties of the photo acoustics but also clinical applications.
Business Profit and Consumer Price Sensitivity

In this paper, we investigate the relation between business profit and the demand price-elasticity of consumers. Business profit increases with a decrease in customer price-sensitivity only when the relation between a firm’s net operating margin (after fixed-costs) and its price-cost margin (before fixed-costs) exceeds unity. We find this result empirically for firms in five industries that we investigate. However, we also find that advertising increases customer price-sensitivity. Nonetheless, businesses advertise because the positive profit impact of higher unit sales offsets the negative profit impact of greater customer price-sensitivity to increase profit on net. We conclude that the increase in customer price-sensitivity from advertising is not purposeful and that businesses cannot manipulate consumer tastes for higher profit.
Can Audit Fees Inhibit Accounting Misstatements? Moderating Effects of Auditor Reputation from Chinese Experience

We examine the association between audit fees and accounting misstatements, and test the moderating effect of auditor reputation on this association in China, where auditors’ legal liability is essentially weak. We find that current-year audit fees are negatively and significantly associated with the likelihood of current-year financial statement being misstated. This result is consistent with prior work, indicating a negative relation between audit fees and future misstatements in a strong litigation environment such as in the United States. This finding indicates that higher audit fees can reflect audit effort, even in a setting where litigation plays essentially no role. Prior literature suggests that audit firms have reputational incentives; thus, we use auditor irregularities and audit firm rank as proxies for auditor reputation and find that the negative relationship between misstatements and audit fees weaken as auditor reputation decreases. Our results indicate that auditor reputation can negatively moderate the relationship between audit fees and misstatements and is more important in the absence of litigation.
BIRC3 single nucleotide polymorphism associate with asthma susceptibility and the abundance of eosinophils and neutrophils

Abstract Background and objective: Aberrant apoptosis is a disease susceptibility mechanism relevant for asthma, whereby fragility of the airway epithelium and enhanced survival of inflammatory cells, contributes to its pathogenesis and prolongation. Cellular Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins (cIAP) suppress apoptosis, and participate in the immune response. In this study, single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) in the BIRC2 (codes cIAP1) and BIRC3 (cIAP2) genes were evaluated for an association with asthma. Methods: Caucasian asthmatic (n = 203) and control (n = 198) subjects were selected from participants in the North West Adelaide Health Study. SNPs (n = 9) spanning the consecutively positioned BIRC2 and BIRC3 genes, were selected using a haplotype tagging approach. Alleles and haplotype associations were analysed by logistic regression, assuming an additive genetic model, and adjusted for gender and atopy. Results: The frequency of the minor allele for the BIRC3 SNP rs3460 was significantly lower in asthmatics compared to the control cases (P = 0.046). BIRC3 SNPs rs7928663 and rs7127583 associated with a reduction in eosinophil and neutrophil abundance when assessed across the study population (multivariate P values = 0.002, and 0.005, respectively). Further, the frequency of a haplotype tagged by rs3460, rs7928663 and rs7127583 was reduced in the asthma sub group (P = 0.05), while the presence of the major allele for rs7928663 associated with an increased load of circulating eosinophils and neutrophils (multivariate P value = 0.001). Conclusions: Polymorphisms in the BIRC3 gene, but not BIRC2, are associated with a protective effect with regards to asthma susceptibility, and a reduced load of inflammatory cells.
A 0.45V continuous time-domain filter using asynchronous oscillator structures

This paper presents a novel oscillator based filter structure for processing time-domain signals with linear dynamics that extensively uses digital logic by construction. Such a mixed signal topology is a key component for allowing efficient processing of asynchronous time encoded signals that does not necessitate external clocking. A miniaturized primitive is introduced as analogue time-domain memory that can be modelled, synthesized, and incorporated in closed loop mixed signal accelerators to realize more complex linear or non-linear computational systems. This is contextualized by demonstrating a compact low power filter operating at 0.45 V in 65 nm CMOS. Simulation results are presented showing an excess of 50 dB dynamic range with a FOM of 7fJ/pole which promises an order of magnitude improvement on state-of-the-art filters in nanometre CMOS.
Tensin 3 is a new partner of Dock5 that controls osteoclast podosome organization and activity

ABSTRACT Bone resorption by osteoclasts is mediated by a typical adhesion structure called the sealing zone or actin ring, whose architecture is based on a belt of podosomes. The molecular mechanisms driving podosome organization into superstructures remain poorly understood to date, in particular at the osteoclast podosome belt. We performed proteomic analyses in osteoclasts and found that the adaptor protein tensin 3 is a partner of Dock5, a Rac exchange factor necessary for podosome belt formation and bone resorption. Expression of tensin 3 and Dock5 concomitantly increase during osteoclast differentiation. These proteins associate with the osteoclast podosome belt but not with individual podosomes, in contrast to vinculin. Super-resolution microscopy revealed that, even if they colocalize in the x-y plane of the podosome belt, Dock5 and tensin 3 differentially localize relative to vinculin in the z-axis. Tensin 3 increases Dock5 exchange activity towards Rac, and suppression of tensin 3 in osteoclasts destabilizes podosome organization, leading to delocalization of Dock5 and a severe reduction in osteoclast activity. Our results suggest that Dock5 and tensin 3 cooperate for osteoclast activity, to ensure the correct organization of podosomes. Summary: Tensin 3 regulates podosome patterning in osteoclasts and bone resorption. Here, we show that tensin 3 is a partner of the Rac exchange factor Dock5 that stimulates its activity.
Monetary Policy and Investment Opportunities

Preface The Central Bank's Effect on the Financial System and the Economy The Power and Structure of the Central Bank Federal Reserve Open Market Operations and the Government Securities Market The Effect of Open Market Operations on Short Term and Long Term Interest Rates The Structure of Interest Rates Monetary Policy and Fixed Income, Equity, and Other Investments The Effect of Monetary Policy on the Stock and Bond Markets Short Term Fixed Income Securities Intermediate and Long Term Fixed Income Securities The Effect of Monetary Policy on Particular Industries Speculative, Derivative, and Hybrid Instruments Hedges Against Monetary Policy
Design of assistive torque for a lower limb exoskeleton based on motion prediction

This paper presents a method to generate assistive torque to a lower limb exoskeleton using a predictive approach. A control scheme is proposed to predict the suitable force of next movement of legs using gait information. By using human walking gait cycle and Center of Pressure (CoP), it is expected that the exoskeleton can provide an assistive force to people and help them to walk normally. In order to predict the next movement for assistive torque given by exoskeleton to the human, a predictive Artificial Neural Network (pANN) is developed. A prototype lower limb exoskeleton has been designed and constructed for experimental study. The controller is implemented by using LabVIEW programming. The experimental results verified that the proposed controller can provide proper assistive torques to hip and knee joints for both legs while wearing the exoskeleton.
Practical algorithms of geometrical migration

Practical GPR survey schemes based on a geometrical migration algorithm are implemented and experimentally tested: (1) random GPR data collection from water surface along a tangled path and interpolation to a regular grid for bottom reconstruction; (2) double-pass B-scan with different antenna offset for estimation of the upper ground layer thickness and permittivity. An analytical relation between the shape of subsurface reflecting interface with measured signal travel times is used for the reconstruction of the layer parameters.
Recovery of T1 response following rocuronium induced neuromuscular block reversed by sugammadex

Sir, Andersen et al. demonstrated that tracheal intubation in obese patients could be equally achieved either by using a videolaryngoscope (VLS) or by direct laryngoscopy (DL) with a Macintosh blade. The similar success rate was probably because of proper positioning of the patients before DL. Unfortunately, there has been a recent trend among our trainees to use a VLS as a first choice intubation tool in the obese patient population. There is no doubt that these devices can reflect better laryngeal views when head, neck, and body positioning is suboptimal because axes alignment is not needed. They are, thus, more forgiving than DL when proper positioning was not assured. The routine use of VLSs as a first choice tool instead of DL, however, should be discouraged. This practice will lead to a gradual decrease, and subsequently less experience and confidence, when using DL for tracheal intubation in obese patients. It will risk an eventual loss of the skills needed to perform DL and the maneuvers, including proper positioning, that can be utilized to optimize visualization in this patient population. Andersen et al. are to be congratulated for drawing everybody’s attention to these facts. Conflict of interested: None.
Multiplex SSCP and heteroduplex analysis with Southern hybridization for large-scale mutation detection.

We have developed a modification of the single-strand conformational analysis and heteroduplex analysis methods of mutation detection, with the intention of applying them to genetic diseases involving large genes or multiple genes producing a similar phenotype. The technique involves electrophoresing up to 10 or more DNA fragments on a polyacrylamide gel, followed by bidirectional Southern blotting and individual examination by hybridization. This can reduce the time involved in mutation detection by more than 50%. We confirmed the validity of our approach by detecting 90% of mutations in a blind study of previously characterized mutations in the adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) gene that underlies familial adenomatous polyposis.
Public librarians as partners in problem-based learning in secondary schools: a case study in Finland

Introduction. Teachers in Finland are demanded to develop students’ competencies in information literacy. However, they can meet this demand only by collaborating with public librarians. The aim in this case study was to explore the perspectives of teachers, librarians and students in a problem-based project and to analyse the advantages and challenges of collaboration between teachers and librarians. Methods. Teachers and librarians together designed and implemented a learning project in a secondary school, where triangulation of data collection took place: group interviews with four teachers and two librarians and a questionnaire for forty students. Analysis. The interviews and questionnaires were categorized and analysed by means of qualitative content analysis, using QSR NVivo 10. The categorization followed theory-based procedures. Results. The study reveals that collaboration between teachers and librarians was rewarding, especially in joint teaching situations. Challenges were related to lack of planning time, students’ diverse skill levels and, to some degree, to the unclear roles of teachers and librarians. The study resulted in a model for integrating information literacy with problembased learning. Conclusion. The new model produces new understanding of the characteristics and critical points of the collaboration and clarifies how information and communications technology (ICT) can be used to support student-centred, problem-based learning processes facilitated and instructed by teachers and public librarians located in physically separated places.
Cholesterol screening guidelines. Consensus, evidence, and common sense.

In a previous issue of Circulation ,1 the Task Force on Risk Reduction criticized the updated American College of Physicians (ACP) Guidelines for Cholesterol Screening2 for “advocating change in the NCEP [National Cholesterol Education Program]/AHA [American Heart Association] guidelines. ” Implicit in this claim are the beliefs that the NCEP guidelines represent the standard against which all cholesterol screening guidelines should be compared and that the ACP guidelines constitute a reaction to that standard. Neither belief is justified. Furthermore, the task force’s comments reflect misunderstandings about the purpose, content, and scientific foundation of the ACP guidelines. The ACP produced new cholesterol guidelines as part of a periodic review of all of its guidelines. The updated guidelines and background paper3 focused on the questions addressed in the original background paper and guidelines4 5 : Which adults should undergo screening for lipoprotein disorders? What tests should be used initially? These questions are more narrowly focused than the range of issues addressed in the NCEP report,6 which considered not only the initial screening test but also the sequence of follow-up testing, the criteria for initiation of treatment, and the choice of interventions. Because the effectiveness of screening depends on the steps taken after the result of the screening test is obtained, the ACP implicitly considered some of these issues, but the additional steps were not the subject of recommendations. Thus, the task force mistakenly inferred that the ACP recommended against certain practices proposed by the NCEP (eg, measuring lipoprotein levels in patients with elevated total cholesterol levels) that were not explicitly addressed because they fell outside of the purview of the guidelines. In the past, medical practice guidelines were often developed as the consensus opinion of experts. In keeping with this tradition, the NCEP assembled a group of experts …
Mesolimbic dopamine and its neuromodulators in obesity and binge eating

Obesity has reached epidemic prevalence, and much research has focused on homeostatic and nonhomeostatic mechanisms underlying overconsumption of food. Mesocorticolimbic circuitry, including dopamine neurons of the ventral tegmental area (VTA), is a key substrate for nonhomeostatic feeding. The goal of the present review is to compare changes in mesolimbic dopamine function in human obesity with diet-induced obesity in rodents. Additionally, we will review the literature to determine if dopamine signaling is altered with binge eating disorder in humans or binge eating modeled in rodents. Finally, we assess modulation of dopamine neurons by neuropeptides and peripheral peptidergic signals that occur with obesity or binge eating. We find that while decreased dopamine concentration is observed with obesity, there is inconsistency outside the human literature on the relationship between striatal D2 receptor expression and obesity. Finally, few studies have explored how orexigenic or anorexigenic peptides modulate dopamine neuronal activity or striatal dopamine in obese models. However, ghrelin modulation of dopamine neurons may be an important factor for driving binge feeding in rodents.