Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Automatic definition of surgical trajectories and acceptance window in pelvic trauma surgery using deformable registration

Purpose: Pelvic screw insertion for percutaneous fixation is a challenging surgical procedure that requires interpretation of complex 3D anatomy from 2D fluoroscopic images. Extensive surgical training is needed and trial and error often occurs in device placement, causing extended fluoroscopy time and increased radiation dose. A system is reported for automatic definition of acceptable surgical trajectories to facilitate guidance and quality assurance in a manner consistent with surgical workflow. Methods: An atlas was constructed with segmented pelvis shapes containing standard reference trajectories for screw placement. A statistical shape model computed from the atlas is used for deformable registration to the patient’s preoperative CT (without segmentation). By transferring the reference trajectories and surrounding acceptance windows (i.e., volumetric corridors of acceptable device placement) from the atlas, the system automatically computes reliable Kwire and screw trajectories for guidance (overlay in fluoroscopy) and QA. Results: A leave-one-out analysis was performed to evaluate the accuracy or registration and overlay. The registration achieved average surface registration accuracy of 1.82 ± 0.39 mm. Automatically determined trajectories conformed within acceptable cortical bone margins, maintaining 3.75 ± 0.68 mm distance from cortex in narrow bone corridors and demonstrating accurate registration and surgical trajectory definition without breaching cortex. Conclusions: The framework proposed in this work allows for multi-atlas based automatic planning of surgical trajectory without tracker or manual segmentation. The planning information can be further used to facilitate intraoperative guidance and post-operatively quality assurance in a manner consistent with surgical workflow.
Performance analysis of next generation web access via satellite

Responsiveness is a critical metric for web performance. Recent work in the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has resulted in a new set of web protocols, including definition of the hypertext transfer protocol version 2 (HTTP/2) and a corresponding set of TCP updates. Together, these have been designed to reduce the web page download latency compared with HTTP/1.1. This paper describes the main features of the new protocols and discusses the impact of path delay on their expected performance. It then presents a set of tests to evaluate whether current implementations of the new protocols can offer benefit with an operational satellite access network and suggests how the specifications can evolve and be tuned to further enhance performance for long network paths. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Silicon feedstock for solar cells

The present invention relates to silicon feedstock for producing silicon ingot directionally solidified to produce a silicon (silicon) wafer for PV solar cells, the thin plate and the ribbon-like material, said silicon-containing feedstock is distributed in this 0.2 containing a phosphorus of boron 10ppma and 0.1~10ppma. The present invention further contains a phosphorus of boron and 0.1~10ppma of 0.2~10ppma distributed in ingot relates to directionally solidified silicon ingot or a silicon sheet or ribbon to form a wafer for solar cells, said silicon-containing ingot start of and 0.4~10 ohm cm have the model change of the ingot height or 40-99% of the point of the thickness of the sheet or ribbon from the p- type to n- type or from n- type to p- type It has a resistivity distribution, expressed by an exponential curve having a value, in which case the resistivity value increases towards the changing point of the model. Finally, the present invention is directionally solidified silicon ingots for silicon wafer production for PV solar cells, a method of manufacturing a silicon feedstock for the production of sheet and ribbon-like material.
Late sampling for automated culture to extend the platelet shelf life to 5 days in Germany

Bacterial contamination of platelet concentrates (PCs) is still a major challenge in transfusion medicine. Different methodologic concepts and screening strategies have been developed and investigated concerning their usability. We evaluated the feasibility of BacT/ALERT automated culture (BacT/A, bioMérieux) with late sampling after 3 days at the earliest.
ClaiRE at SemEval-2018 Task 7 - Extended Version

In this paper we describe our post-evaluation results for SemEval-2018 Task 7 on clas- sification of semantic relations in scientific literature for clean (subtask 1.1) and noisy data (subtask 1.2). This is an extended ver- sion of our workshop paper (Hettinger et al., 2018) including further technical details (Sec- tions 3.2 and 4.3) and changes made to the preprocessing step in the post-evaluation phase (Section 2.1). Due to these changes Classification of Relations using Embeddings (ClaiRE) achieved an improved F1 score of 75.11% for the first subtask and 81.44% for the second.
The limited contribution of large trees to annual biomass production in an old-growth tropical forest.

Although the importance of large trees regarding biodiversity and carbon stock in old-growth forests is undeniable, their annual contribution to biomass production and carbon uptake remains poorly studied at the stand level. To clarify the role of large trees in biomass production, we used data of tree growth, mortality, and recruitment monitored during 20 yr in 10 4-ha plots in a species-rich tropical forest (Central African Republic). Using a random block design, three different silvicultural treatments, control, logged, and logged + thinned, were applied in the 10 plots. Annual biomass gains and losses were analyzed in relation to the relative biomass abundance of large trees and by tree size classes using a spatial bootstrap procedure. Although large trees had high individual growth rates and constituted a substantial amount of biomass, stand-level biomass production decreased with the abundance of large trees in all treatments and plots. The contribution of large trees to annual stand-level biomass production appeared limited in comparison to that of small trees. This pattern did not only originate from differences in abundance of small vs. large trees or differences in initial biomass stocks among tree size classes, but also from a reduced relative growth rate of large trees and a relatively constant mortality rate among tree size classes. In a context in which large trees are increasingly gaining attention as being a valuable and a key structural characteristic of natural forests, the present study brought key insights to better gauge the relatively limited role of large trees in annual stand-level biomass production. In terms of carbon uptake, these results suggest, as already demonstrated, a low net carbon uptake of old-growth forests in comparison to that of logged forests. Tropical forests that reach a successional stage with relatively high density of large trees progressively cease to be carbon sinks as large trees contribute sparsely or even negatively to the carbon uptake at the stand level.
Exploring foundations for using simulations in IS research

Simulation has been adopted in many disciplines as a means for understanding the behavior of a system by imitating it through an artificial object that exhibits a nearly identical behavior. Although simulation approaches have been widely adopted for theory building in disciplines such as engineering, computer science, management, and social sciences, their potential in the IS field is often overlooked. The aim of this paper is to understand how different simulation approaches are successfully used in IS research, thereby providing hypotheses that allow deriving methodological guidelines for subsequent studies. A survey of 69 pieces of IS research provides the grounding for defining a taxonomy of simulation approaches and for identifying possible application patterns linking simulation approaches to their theory contributions, research domains and information views.
CONTRACEPTION Adopting the “ opportunistic salpingectomy philosophy ” for benign hysterectomies has been fairly easy for ObGyns , but what about for permanent contraception ? Is it time to advocate for this global practice ?

Dr. Matulich reports no financial relationships relevant to this article. Dr. Creinin receives speaking honoraria from Allergan and Merck & Co., serves on an Advisory Board for Merck & Co. and is a consultant for Estetra, Health Decisions, and Medicines360. The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of California, Davis, receives research funding for contraceptive clinical trials from Contramed, Medicines360, Merck & Co., National Institutes of Health/Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, and the Society of Family Planning. •
CCNG2 Overexpression Mediated by AKT Inhibits Tumor Cell Proliferation in Human Astrocytoma Cells

The cyclin family protein CCNG2 has an important inhibitory role in cancer initiation and progression, but the exact mechanism is still unknown. In this study, we examined the relationship between CCNG2 and the malignancy of astrocytomas and whether the AKT pathway, which is upregulated in astrocytomas, may inhibit CCNG2 expression. CCNG2 expression was found to be negatively associated with the pathological grade and proliferative activity of astrocytomas, as the highest expression was found in control brain tissue (N = 31), whereas the lowest expression was in high-grade glioma tissue (N = 31). Additionally, CCNG2 overexpression in glioma cell lines, T98G and U251 inhibited proliferation and arrested cells in the G0/G1 phase. Moreover, CCNG2 overexpression could increase glioma cells apoptosis. In contrast, AKT activity increased in glioma cells that had low CCNG2 expression. Expression of CCNG2 was higher in cells treated with the AKT kinase inhibitor MK-2206 indicating that the presence of phosphorylated AKT may inhibit the expression of CCNG2. Inhibition of AKT also led to decreased colony formation in T98G and U251 cells and knocked down of CCNG2 reversed the result. Finally, overexpression of CCNG2 in glioma cells reduced tumor volume in a murine model. To conclude, low expression of CCNG2 correlated with the severity astrocytoma and CCNG2 overexpression could induce apoptosis and inhibit proliferation. Inhibition of AKT activity increased the expression of CCNG2. The present study highlights the regulatory consequences of CCNG2 expression and AKT activity in astrocytoma tumorigenesis and the potential use of CCNG2 in anticancer treatment.
NELL2RDF: Reading the Web, and Publishing it as Linked Data

NELL is a system that continuously reads the Web to extract knowledge in form of entities and relations between them. It has been running since January 2010 and extracted over 50,000,000 candidate statements. NELL's generated data comprises all the candidate statements together with detailed information about how it was generated. This information includes how each component of the system contributed to the extraction of the statement, as well as when that happened and how confident the system is in the veracity of the statement. However, the data is only available in an ad hoc CSV format that makes it difficult to exploit out of the context of NELL. In order to make it more usable for other communities, we adopt Linked Data principles to publish a more standardized, self-describing dataset with rich provenance metadata.
Live-cell imaging reveals the dynamics and function of single-telomere TERRA molecules in cancer cells

ABSTRACT Telomeres cap the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes, protecting them from degradation and erroneous recombination events which may lead to genome instability. Telomeres are transcribed giving rise to telomeric repeat-containing RNAs, called TERRA. The TERRA long noncoding RNAs have been proposed to play important roles in telomere biology, including heterochromatin formation and telomere length homeostasis. While TERRA RNAs are predominantly nuclear and localize at telomeres, little is known about the dynamics and function of TERRA molecules expressed from individual telomeres. Herein, we developed an assay to image endogenous TERRA molecules expressed from a single telomere in living human cancer cells. We show that single-telomere TERRA can be detected as TERRA RNA single particles which freely diffuse within the nucleus. Furthermore, TERRA molecules aggregate forming TERRA clusters. Three-dimensional size distribution and single particle tracking analyses revealed distinct sizes and dynamics for TERRA RNA single particles and clusters. Simultaneous time lapse confocal imaging of TERRA particles and telomeres showed that TERRA clusters transiently co-localize with telomeres. Finally, we used chemically modified antisense oligonucleotides to deplete TERRA molecules expressed from a single telomere. Single-telomere TERRA depletion resulted in increased DNA damage at telomeres and elsewhere in the genome. These results suggest that single-telomere TERRA transcripts participate in the maintenance of genomic integrity in human cancer cells.
Endoscope-magnetic tracker calibration via trust region optimization

Minimally invasive surgical techniques and advanced imaging systems are gaining prevalence in modern clinical practice. Using miniaturized magnetic trackers in combination with these procedures can help physicians with the orientation and guidance of instruments in graphical displays, navigation during surgery, 3D reconstruction of anatomy, and other applications. Magnetic trackers are often used in conjunction with other sensors or instruments such as endoscopes and optical trackers. In such applications, complex calibration procedures are required to align the coordinate systems of the different devices in order to produce accurate results. Unfortunately, current calibration procedures developed for augmented reality are cumbersome and unsuitable for repeated use in a clinical setting. This paper presents an efficient automated endoscope-tracker calibration algorithm for clinical applications. The algorithm is based on a state-of-the-art trust region optimization method and requires minimal intervention from the endoscope operator. The only required input is a short video of a calibration grid taken with the endoscope and attached magnetic tracker prior to the procedure. The three stage calibration process uses a traditional camera calibration to determine the intrinsic and extrinsic parameters of the endoscope, and then the endoscope is registered in the tracker's reference frame using a novel linear estimation method and a trust region optimization algorithm. This innovative method eliminates the need for complicated calibration procedures and facilitates the use of magnetic tracking devices in clinical settings.
Sentiment Classification for Hotel Booking Review Based on Sentence Dependency Structure and Sub-Opinion Analysis

SUMMARY This paper presents a supervised method to classify a document at the sub-sentence level. Traditionally, sentiment analysis often classiﬁes sentence polarity based on word features, syllable features, or N-gram features. A sentence, as a whole, may contain several phrases and words which carry their own speciﬁc sentiment. However, classifying a sentence based on phrases and words can sometimes be incoherent because they are ungrammatically formed. In order to overcome this problem, we need to arrange words and phrase in a dependency form to capture their semantic scope of sentiment. Thus, we transform a sentence into a dependency tree structure. A dependency tree is composed of subtrees, and each subtree allocates words and syllables in a grammatical order. Moreover, a sentence dependency tree structure can mitigate word sense ambiguity or solve the inherent polysemy of words by determining their word sense. In our experiment, we provide the details of the proposed subtree polarity classiﬁcation for sub-opinion analysis. To conclude our discussion, we also elaborate on the e ﬀ ectiveness of the analysis result.
Behavioural Equivalence via Modalities for Algebraic Effects

The article investigates behavioural equivalence between programs in a call-by-value functional language extended with a signature of (algebraic) effect-triggering operations. Two programs are considered as being behaviourally equivalent if they enjoy the same behavioural properties. To formulate this, we define a logic whose formulas specify behavioural properties. A crucial ingredient is a collection of modalities expressing effect-specific aspects of behaviour. We give a general theory of such modalities. If two conditions, openness and decomposability, are satisfied by the modalities, then the logically specified behavioural equivalence coincides with a modality-defined notion of applicative bisimilarity, which can be proven to be a congruence by a generalisation of Howe’s method. We show that the openness and decomposability conditions hold for several examples of algebraic effects: nondeterminism, probabilistic choice, global store, and input/output.
Brain Microstructure: Impact of the Permeability on Diffusion MRI

Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging (dMRI) enables a non invasive in-vivo characterization of the brain tissue. The disentanglement of each microstructural property reflected on the total dMRI signal is one of the hottest topics in the field. The dMRI reconstruction techniques ground on assumptions on the signal model and consider the neurons axons as impermeable cylinders. Nevertheless, interactions with the environment is characteristic of the biological life and diffusional water exchange takes place through cell membranes. Myelin wraps axons with multiple layers constitute a barrier modulating exchange between the axon and the extracellular tissue. Due to the short transverse relaxation time (T2) of water trapped between sheets, myelin contribution to the diffusion signal is often neglected. This thesis aims to explore how the exchange influences the dMRI signal and how this can be informative on myelin structure. We also aimed to explore how recent dMRI signal reconstruction techniques could be applied in clinics proposing a strategy for investigating the potential as biomarkers of the derived tissue descriptors. The first goal of the thesis was addressed performing Monte Carlo simulations of a system with three compartments: intra-axonal, spiraling myelin and extraaxonal. The experiments showed that the exchange time between intraand extraaxonal compartments was on the sub-second level (and thus possibly observable) for geometries with small axon diameter and low number of wraps such as in the infant brain and in demyelinating diseases. The second goal of the thesis was reached by assessing the indices derived from three dimensional simple harmonics oscillator-based reconstruction and estimation (3D-SHORE) in stroke disease. The tract-based analysis involving motor networks and the region-based analysis in grey matter (GM) were performed. 3D-SHORE indices proved to be sensitive to plasticity in both white matter (WM) and GM, highlighting their viability as biomarkers in ischemic stroke. The overall study could be considered the starting point for a future investigation of the interdependence of different phenomena like exchange and relaxation related to the established dMRI indices. This is valuable for the accurate dMRI data interpretation in heterogeneous tissues and different physiological conditions.
Would affective commitment be enough to earn Nokia back the lost supremacy?

With the competition and evolution of the smartphone industry, developing a better understanding of what drives consumers' loyalty to smartphone brand has become an important concern for practitioners and academics. Using the brand commitment paradigm, the given study proposes a model that tests the effectiveness of approach adopted by HMD global to establish its smartphone in the enormously saturated market. Specifically, we propose a model that investigate the effect of two brand relationship dimensions, namely brand trust (cognitive dimension), and affective commitment (emotional dimension) on brand loyalty among former consumers of Nokia. 213 former Nokia brand users, from four different cities in China working in the private and public sectors, participated in this survey. Results indicate that emotional aspect is not sufficient to generate brand loyalty while relaunching a brand in the saturated market. Instead, HMD should focus on strengthening continuance commitment (cognitive dimension) because innovation and improved quality is the key to success in the flooded market.
An auditory Go/No-Go study of event-related potentials in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders

In this study event-related potentials (ERPs) were used to investigate the effects of prenatal alcohol exposure on response inhibition identified during task performance. ERPs were recorded during a auditory Go/No Go task in two groups of children with mean age of 12.8 years (11 years to 14.7 years): one diagnosed with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS) or partial FAS (FAS/PFAS; n = 12) and a control group of children of same age whose mothers abstained from alcohol or drank minimally during pregnancy (n = 11). The children were instructed to push a button in response to the Go stimulus and not to press the button when the No Go stimulus were heard. Task performance accuracy did not differ between the two groups, however differences were observed in the ERP components: P2, N2, and P3. The P2 amplitude were larger for Go trials in both groups. The FAS/PFAS group showed slower N2 response to Go trials, suggesting a less efficient early classification of the stimulus. P3 showed larger amplitudes to No-Go vs. Go in both groups. The study has provided new evidence for inhibition deficits in FAS/PFAS subjects identified by ERPs.
Pre-tuned resonant marker for iMRI using aerosol deposition on polymer catheters

New advances in MRI technology enable fast acquisition of high-resolution images. In combination with the new open architecture this scanners are entering the surgical suite being used as intra-operative imaging modality for minimally invasive interventions. However, for a usage on a large scale the major issue of availability of appropriate surgical tools is still unsolved. Such instruments, i.e. needles and catheters have to be MR-safe and -compatible but in contrast still have to be visible within the MRI image. This usually is solved by integration of markers onto non-magnetic devices. For reasons of MR-safety, work-flow and cost effectiveness semi-active markers without any connection to the outside are preferable. The challenge in development and integration of such resonant markers is to precisely meet the MRI frequency by keeping the geometrical dimensions of the interventional tool constant. This paper focuses on the reliable integration and easy fabrication of such resonant markers on the tip of an interventional instrument. Starting with a theoretical background for resonant labels a self-sufficient pre-tuned marker consisting of a standard capacitor and a thin-film inductor is presented. A prototype is built using aerosol deposition for the inductor on a 6-F polymer catheter and by integration of an off-the-shelf capacitor into the lumen of the catheter. Due to the fact that the dielectric materials of some capacitors lead to artifacts in the MRI image different capacitor technologies are investigated. The prototypes are scanned by an interventional MRI device proving the proper functionality of the tools.