Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Magnetorelaxation (MRX) Measurements With DC-SQUID Gradiometers

Magnetic nanoparticles (MNP) show different relaxation mechanisms after switching off an external field. The Brownian relaxation of the free rotation of the whole particles and the Néel relaxation of the magnetization vector inside a fixed particle have different time scales. While the Brownian relaxation time is in the order of milliseconds the Néel relaxation time is in the second range. Thus a clear separation of free and fixed MNP is possible. To measure the very small magnetic relaxation fields we have developed MRX systems using low temperature superconductor thin film second order SQUID gradiometers working in unshielded environment. By standard MRX we are able to separate both relaxation processes to determine the amount of bounded MNP as results of binding reactions. By Néel measurements with a x-y scanning MRX system a spatial resolved imaging of the bounded particles is possible even for living objects. We try to improve the spatial resolution of our MRX system by a small ferromagnetic needle. Within an anti-cryostat we can measure the temperature dependence of small samples (TMRX) between 4 K and 300 K. From Néel signals using some theoretical modeling important parameters of the MNP such as energy barrier distribution, activation energy, anisotropy constant and diameter of the magnetic core were obtained.
Late Effects of Ionizing Radiation on the Microvascular Networks in Normal Tissue

Abstract Nguyen, V. , Gaber, M. W. , Sontag, M. R. and Kiani, M. F. Late Effects of Ionizing Radiation on the Microvascular Networks in Normal Tissue. Damage to the microvascular networks constitutes one of the most important components of ionizing radiation damage to normal tissue. Previously, we have reported the early (3, 7 and 30 days postirradiation) effects of ionizing radiation on the structure and function of normal tissue microvascular networks. Here we report on the late effects of ionizing radiation on the structural and functional changes in microvascular networks in locally irradiated (single 10-Gy dose) hamster cremaster muscles observed 60, 120 and 180 days postirradiation; age-matched animals were used as controls. As in the previous study, intravital microscopy was used to measure structural and functional parameters in complete microvascular networks in vivo. A factorial design was used to examine the effects of radiation status, time postirradiation, and network vessel type on the structure and function of microvascular networks. Our results indicate that the progression of radiation-induced microvascular damage continues during the late times but that there is partial recovery from radiation damage within 6 months postirradiation. Red blood cell flux, red blood cell velocity, and capillary blood flow in irradiated networks at 180 days postirradiation were significantly greater than control levels. As at the early times, all vessel types were not damaged equally by radiation at every time.
Pose-RCNN: Joint object detection and pose estimation using 3D object proposals

This paper presents a novel approach for joint object detection and orientation estimation in a single deep convolutional neural network utilizing proposals calculated from 3D data. For orientation estimation, we extend a R-CNN like architecture by several carefully designed layers. Two new object proposal methods are introduced, to make use of stereo as well as lidar data. Our experiments on the KITTI dataset show that by combining proposals of both domains, high recall can be achieved while keeping the number of proposals low. Furthermore, our method for joint detection and orientation estimation outperforms state of the art approaches for cyclists on the easy test scenario of the KITTI test dataset.
Feature Sets for Stressed Speech Discrimination

Emotional stress is often experienced during public speaking, and is one of the most common phobias in adults. This can usually be detected by the human listener – and this is as easy as the speaker is known by the listener –, which can mean that speech signal is affected in predictable ways by stress. For this reason, it must be possible to teach a machine how to discriminate it. Many studies have already been done in automatic emotion recognition. However, due to their broadness of scope, concerning number of emotions to recognize, number of speakers, and types of features, it is not clear which features can be the most efficient for the task of stress discrimination. In particular, it is not clear which features can be the most efficient for our data set. Here we address the problem of stress discrimination, for 15 speakers. We try to understand which of the proposed subsets of the inicial set of 6365 features, including functional features and Teager Energy Operator -based features, enable a better discrimination. Data is collected using an environmental approach, where stress is not induced but already present in the scenario. Physiologic data is recorded, in order to provide for further annotation of speech utterances. Stress annotation is only taken binarily, meaning that the speech utterance is either annotated as “stressed” or as “neutral”.
Human Neuroscience

The implicit nature of the anti-fat bias has been investigated in most studies with the implicit association test (IAT; Greenwald et al., 1998). In this test, automatic associations held toward body weight are assessed through a series of sorting task requiring speeded responses. One task relates to body weight in which stimuli are classified as " thin " or " fat. " In the second task, stimuli are categorized according to an evaluative attribute, e.g., " positive " vs. " negative. " In the critical conditions, both tasks are to be performed in alternation, while the mapping of the response keys to both tasks is varied. It is assumed that behavioral responses mapping on the same response keys are easier to make when category and attribute task are associated with each other. Consistent with this notion, classifying the categories of (bad + fat) and (good + thin) on the same response keys results in better performance as compared to classifying categories of (bad + thin) and (good + fat) on the response keys. Across studies, a consistent and reliable anti-fat bias has been revealed in college students, health professionals, and recently, in a large online sample ranging in age from 13 to the implicit basis of the anti-fat bias is important as it may provide unique insights into the automatic processing of real-life behavior. Specifically, the activation of negative attitudes toward obese individuals may trigger discriminative behavior reflected in non-verbal behaviors such as eye contact, facial expression, and spatial distance. Such immediate negative behaviors may occur in the absence of reflective thinking and even escape awareness providing a constant source of discrimination triggered by the mere sight of an obese person.
Blind zero-forcing equalization without channel estimation

We present methods for computing fractionally spaced zero-forcing blind equalizers with arbitrary delay directly from second order statistics of the observations without any channel identification. Such direct estimation, without even partial channel identification, completely avoids channel identification errors, resulting in better equalization performance. We first develop a batch type algorithm, then adaptive algorithms are obtained by linear prediction and gradient descent optimization. Our adaptive algorithms do not require channel order estimation, nor rank estimation. Compared with other second order statistics based approaches, ours do not require channel identification at all. On the other hand, compared with the CMA type algorithms, ours use only second order statistics, thus no local convergence problem exists and faster convergence can be achieved. Simulations show that our algorithms outperform most typical existing algorithms.
DNA Extraction from Different Preserved Tissue of Cassidula aurisfelis for PCR study

Preserving DNA within tissue make the ability to collect and stabilize samples in the field or operating room, also making it easier to use the sample for histology and DNA isolation. Two preservative methods, Ethanol 95% and TNES-Urea Buffer were used. The best method makes DNA quality clear and sharp on gel electrophoresis. TNES-Urea buffer make clear pattern. Two extraction methods were using for yield, quality and suitability of genomic DNA for RAPD marker amplification in Cassidula auresfellis. Phenol chloroform method makes clear and sharp DNA quality for preserved samples (Ethanol 95% and TNES-Urea Buffer) and the purity between 1.0847 - 1.6715. Screening of RAPD marker produced 90% in TNES-Urea Buffer samples and 70% in Ethanol 95%. (Nature and Science. 2009;7(9):8-14). (ISSN: 1545-0740).
A Scalable Implementation of a MapReduce-based Graph Processing Algorithm for Large-Scale Heterogeneous Supercomputers

Fast processing for extremely large-scale graph is becoming increasingly important in various domains such as health care, social networks, intelligence, system biology, and electric power grids. The GIM-V algorithm based on MapReduce programing model is designed as a general graph processing method for supporting petabyte-scale graph data. On the other hand, recent large-scale data-intensive computing systems tend to employ GPU accelerators to gain good peak performance and high memory bandwidth, however, the validity of acceleration, including optimization techniques, of the GIM-V algorithm using GPUs is an open problem. To address the problem, we implemented a multi-GPU-based GIM-V application with load balance optimization between GPU devices. Our implementation extends the existing MapReduce library for supporting multi-GPU-environments using the MPI library and optimizes load balance between GPU devices by employing task scheduling-based graph partitioning. We conducted our implementation on the TSUBAME2.0 supercomputer using 256 nodes (6144 hyper-threaded CPU cores, 768 GPUs). The results exhibit that our GPU-based implementation performed 87.04 ME/s on 230 (1.07 billion) vertices and 234 (17.2 billion) edges, and 1.52 times faster than the CPU-based naive implementation with 2^29 vertices and 233 edges. We also studied the performance characteristics of our implementation and load balance optimization technique.
Performance assessment of the BEBIG MultiSource® high dose rate brachytherapy treatment unit

A comprehensive system characterisation was performed of the Eckert & Ziegler BEBIG GmbH MultiSource® High Dose Rate (HDR) brachytherapy treatment unit with an 192Ir source. The unit is relatively new to the UK market, with the first installation in the country having been made in the summer of 2009. A detailed commissioning programme was devised and is reported including checks of the fundamental parameters of source positioning, dwell timing, transit doses and absolute dosimetry of the source. Well chamber measurements, autoradiography and video camera analysis techniques were all employed. The absolute dosimetry was verified by the National Physical Laboratory, UK, and compared to a measurement based on a calibration from PTB, Germany, and the supplied source certificate, as well as an independent assessment by a visiting UK centre. The use of the ‘Krieger’ dosimetry phantom has also been evaluated. Users of the BEBIG HDR system should take care to avoid any significant bend in the transfer tube, as this will lead to positioning errors of the source, of up to 1.0 mm for slight bends, 2.0 mm for moderate bends and 5.0 mm for extreme curvature (depending on applicators and transfer tube used) for the situations reported in this study. The reason for these errors and the potential clinical impact are discussed. Users should also note the methodology employed by the system for correction of transit doses, and that no correction is made for the initial and final transit doses. The results of this investigation found that the uncorrected transit doses lead to small errors in the delivered dose at the first dwell position, of up to 2.5 cGy at 2 cm (5.6 cGy at 1 cm) from a 10 Ci source, but the transit dose correction for other dwells was accurate within 0.2 cGy. The unit has been mechanically reliable, and source positioning accuracy and dwell timing have been reproducible, with overall performance similar to other existing HDR equipment. The unit is capable of high quality brachytherapy treatment delivery, taking the above factors into account.
Amphotericin B as primary therapy for cryptococcosis in patients with AIDS: reliability of relatively high doses administered over a relatively short period.

Thirty-one consecutive AIDS patients with cryptococcal disease were enrolled in a study of the efficacy and safety of short-course primary treatment with a relatively high dose of amphotericin B (1 mg/[kg.d] for 14 days); 26 patients also received flucytosine (100-150 mg/[kg.d], given either intravenously or orally). Twenty-five patients had cryptococcal meningitis confirmed by culture, three had presumed cryptococcal meningitis, and three had disseminated extrameningeal cryptococcosis. After successful primary treatment, all patients were given oral itraconazole or fluconazole as suppressive therapy, and their lifelong clinical and mycologic follow-up was planned. Successful primary therapy was defined as the resolution of symptoms and the documentation of negative cultures of cerebrospinal fluid and/or blood 2 months after the initial diagnosis. Therapy was successful in 29 (93.5%) of all 31 cases and in 26 (92.8%) of the 28 cases of culture-proven or presumed cryptococcal meningitis. Nephrotoxicity developed as a result of amphotericin B administration in seven cases; this adverse reaction required a reduction of the dose in two cases and the discontinuation of therapy in five. No deaths due to cryptococcosis were documented during primary therapy. Treatment failed in two cases. During a mean observation period of 10.7 months, three relapses of the underlying infection occurred. Our results indicate that an aggressive approach to the primary treatment of cryptococcosis in AIDS patients, with the administration of a relatively high dose of amphotericin B for a relatively short period, is effective and well tolerated.
An efficient clustering method for medical data applications

Clustering task is aimed at classifying elements into clusters, which is applied to different fields of the human activity. In this paper, an efficient clustering method by fast search and find of density peaks (FSFDP) is used for medical data applications. Different computing methods of the local density are compared and analyzed. For datasets composed by a small number of points, the local density might be affected by large statistical errors. Kernel local density is more accurate for estimating the density. Experiments were conducted to validate the efficiencies of the clustering method based on different local density for UCI benchmark and real-life datasets. The results show the feasibility and efficiency of the method for medical data clustering analysis.
Mechanisms Mediating the Biologic Activity of Synthetic Proline, Glycine, and Hydroxyproline Polypeptides in Human Neutrophils

The accumulation of neutrophils at sites of tissue injury or infection is mediated by chemotactic factors released as part of the inflammatory process. Some of these factors are generated as a direct consequence of tissue injury or infection, including degradation fragments of connective tissue collagen and bacterial- or viral-derived peptides containing collagen-related structural motifs. In these studies, we examined biochemical mechanisms mediating the biologic activity of synthetic polypeptides consisting of repeated units of proline (Pro), glycine (Gly), and hydroxyproline (Hyp), major amino acids found within mammalian and bacterial collagens. We found that the peptides were chemoattractants for neutrophils. Moreover, their chemotactic potency was directly related to their size and composition. Thus, the pentameric peptides (Pro-Pro-Gly)5 and (Pro-Hyp-Gly)5 were more active in inducing chemotaxis than the corresponding decameric peptides (Pro-Pro-Gly)10 and (Pro-Hyp-Gly)10. In addition, the presence of Hyp in peptides reduced chemotactic activity. The synthetic peptides were also found to reduce neutrophil apoptosis. In contrast to chemotaxis, this activity was independent of peptide size or composition. The effects of the peptides on both chemotaxis and apoptosis were blocked by inhibitors of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3-K) and p38 mitogen-activated protein (MAP) kinase. However, only (Pro-Pro-Gly)5 and (Pro-Pro-Gly)10 induced expression of PI3-K and phosphorylation of p38 MAP kinase, suggesting a potential mechanism underlying reduced chemotactic activity of Hyp-containing peptides. Although none of the synthetic peptides tested had any effect on intracellular calcium mobilization, each induced nuclear binding activity of the transcription factor NF-κB. These findings indicate that polymeric polypeptides containing Gly-X-Y collagen-related structural motifs promote inflammation by inducing chemotaxis and blocking apoptosis. However, distinct calcium-independent signaling pathways appear to be involved in these activities.
Multilingual speech to speech translation system in bluetooth environment

Voice Translator is speech to speech translation application for android mobile phone, which translates English speech to Hindi speech and vice versa. Voice Translator includes three modules, Voice Recognition, Machine Translation and Speech Synthesis. Voice Recognition module captures the voice or speech from the mobile user through speaker, identifies then converts the speech into text and then the text send to Machine Translation for further process. Machine Translation module does the process of translation i.e. this module consists of library for both language and when text is received by this module, it converts the text of one language to another as per user choice and thus it sends the translated text to last module. Speech Synthesis module acts as the text to speech translator i.e. when it gets the translated text. This module processes on translated text which converts it into speech and then makes it as user output. Thus, Voice Translation application works by integrating all these three modules and gives the user best output.
Combined Affine Geometric Transformations and Spatially Dependent Radiometric Deformations: A Decoupled Linear Estimation Framework

This paper considers the problem of registering two observations of the same object, where the observations differ due to a combined effect of an affine geometric transformation and nonuniform illumination changes. The problem of deriving new representations of the observations that are both invariant to geometric transformations and linear in the illumination model is analyzed. In this framework, we present a novel method for linear estimation of illumination changes in an affine invariant manner, thus, decoupling the original problem into two simpler ones. The computational complexity of the method is low as it requires no more than solving a linear set of equations. The prior step of illumination estimation is shown to improve the accuracy of state-of-the-art registration techniques by a factor of two.
Computerized Counseling Reduces HIV-1 Viral Load and Sexual Transmission Risk: Findings From a Randomized Controlled Trial

Objective:Evaluate a computerized intervention supporting antiretroviral therapy (ART) adherence and HIV transmission prevention. Design:Longitudinal randomized controlled trial. Settings:An academic HIV clinic and a community-based organization in Seattle. Subjects:In a total of 240 HIV-positive adults on ART, 209 completed 9-month follow-up (87% retention). Intervention:Randomization to computerized counseling or assessment only, 4 sessions over 9 months. Main Outcome Measures:HIV-1 viral suppression, and self-reported ART adherence and transmission risks, compared using generalized estimating equations. Results:Overall, intervention participants had reduced viral load: mean 0.17 log10 decline, versus 0.13 increase in controls, P = 0.053, and significant difference in ART adherence baseline to 9 months (P = 0.046). Their sexual transmission risk behaviors decreased (odds ratio = 0.55, P = 0.020), a reduction not seen among controls (odds ratio = 1.1, P = 0.664), and a significant difference in change (P = 0.040). Intervention effect was driven by those most in need; among those with detectable virus at baseline (>30 copies/mL, n = 89), intervention effect was mean 0.60 log10 viral load decline versus 0.15 increase in controls, P = 0.034. ART adherence at the final follow-up was 13 points higher among intervention participants versus controls, P = 0.038. Conclusions:Computerized counseling is promising for integrated ART adherence and safer sex, especially for individuals with problems in these areas. This is the first intervention to report improved ART adherence, viral suppression, and reduced secondary sexual transmission risk behavior.
Du monopole au marché : cas d'EDF une entreprise en mutation

La deregulation du marche energetique en Europe impulsee par la commission europeenne pour introduire la concurrence a provoque d’importants bouleversements au sein d’EDF (Electricite de France). En effet, longtemps gere sous monopole d’Etat, cet operateur historique est desormais amene a changer de strategie, de structure et de modes de management des competences afin de reagir rapidement aux mutations economiques et aux risques qui en decoulent. Dans ce travail de these, nous analysons ces transformations a partir de deux registres de recherches complementaires en gestion : celui de la strategie et celui de l’organisation. Le registre strategique s'appuie sur une analyse "documentaire" a travers laquelle nous tentons d’analyser, d’une part, le poids du "jeu" institutionnel ainsi que le role du dirigeant dans l’orientation strategique d’EDF et, d’autre part, d’analyser comment ces orientations se traduisent en changements structurels. Quant au registre organisationnel, celui-ci s'appuie sur deux analyses a la fois qualitative par entretiens semi-directifs et quantitative par questionnaire, a travers lesquelles nous tentons de demontrer, en nous centrant particulierement sur le cas des structures commerciales d’EDF, que les capacites de changement de cette entreprise tendent a etre conditionnees, au meme titre que les entreprises privees, par un processus d’accumulation des competences internes. Ces competences dependent de la capacite a valoriser au plan collectif les competences individuelles, a savoir, de la qualite de l’apprentissage organisationnel.