Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Characterization of multiple sclerosis plaques with T1-weighted MR and quantitative magnetization transfer.

PURPOSE To investigate the relationship between the appearance of multiple sclerosis lesions identified on unenhanced T1-weighted images and their corresponding magnetization transfer ratios. METHODS A total of 119 white matter lesions seen on T2-weighted images in 17 patients with multiple sclerosis were evaluated. Axial T1-weighted images were used to classify the lesions as isointense to white matter (10 lesions), hypointense to white matter but hyperintense to gray matter (44 lesions), hypointense to gray matter (59 lesions), and relatively isointense to cerebrospinal fluid (6 lesions). The magnetization transfer ratio of each lesion was calculated, and an average magnetization transfer ratio for each subcategory was determined. RESULTS The magnetization transfer ratio values became progressively lower with increasing hypointensity of lesions on T1-weighted images. The average magnetization transfer ratio for lesions isointense to white matter, hypointense to white matter but hyperintense to gray matter, hypointense to gray matter, and relatively isointense to cerebrospinal fluid was 34.90 +/- 2.67 mean +/- SD), 30.93 +/- 3.57, 27.27 +/- 3.56, and 23.62 +/- 2.83, respectively. All groups were significantly different from each other. CONCLUSION Lesions isointense to white matter exhibited higher magnetization transfer ratio values than lesions that were hypointense. These findings are consistent with relative preservation of the myelin structure in the former, perhaps indicating that these lesions are predominantly inflammatory (edematous) in nature. The proportionately lower magnetization transfer ratio values of lesions that appear progressively more hypointense on T1-weighted images may reflect varying degrees of demyelination, with increasing lesion hypointensity corresponding to more breakdown in the macromolecular structure. These results suggest that T1-weighted images may be useful in characterizing the underlying pathologic substrate in multiple sclerosis plaques.
Gender Differences in the Interpersonal Consequences of Early-Onset Depressive Symptoms

Although research has identified gender differences in the interpersonal antecedents of depressive symptoms in youth, little is known about gender differences in the interpersonal consequences of depression. The goal of the present research was to examine gender differences in the influence of early-onset depressive symptoms on adolescent friendships and self-perceived peer acceptance. Third-graders (N = 382) participated in a multiwave longitudinal study through the sixth grade. Parents reported on youths' depressive symptoms. Youths reported on the quality of their perceived best friendship and their perceptions of peer acceptance. Reciprocal nominations of friendship were assessed through reports by youths and their classmates. Consistent with expectations, depressive symptoms contributed to subsequent declines in the number of reciprocal friendships and to poorer perceived friendship quality in girls but not in boys. Depressive symptoms predicted declines in subsequent perceived peer acceptance in both girls and boys. These findings contribute to theories regarding gender differences in relationships and gender-linked interpersonal processes in depression.
Curve and Surface Reconstruction Based on the Method of Evolution

This contribution addresses a problem of surface reconstruction from the point clouds which is applied in many scientific and engineering applications. Our aim is to obtain a visualization of data from 3D scanning and document the real objects digitally. We describe the digital reconstruction problem and the methods of surface reconstruction. We mention several known algorithms for surface reconstruction and focus on new methods of reconstruction based on the sequential evolution. We explain a general framework for the evolution-based approximation of a given set of points by a curve. Then we apply it to surfaces. We show the sequential evolution of curves and surfaces on some concrete examples. For the implementation of the algorithms we traditionally use interactive environment MATLAB.
ZEB1 Mediates Acquired Resistance to the Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor-Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is one mechanism of acquired resistance to inhibitors of the epidermal growth factor receptor-tyrosine kinases (EGFR-TKIs) in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The precise mechanisms of EMT-related acquired resistance to EGFR-TKIs in NSCLC remain unclear. We generated erlotinib-resistant HCC4006 cells (HCC4006ER) by chronic exposure of EGFR-mutant HCC4006 cells to increasing concentrations of erlotinib. HCC4006ER cells acquired an EMT phenotype and activation of the TGF-β/SMAD pathway, while lacking both T790M secondary EGFR mutation and MET gene amplification. We employed gene expression microarrays in HCC4006 and HCC4006ER cells to better understand the mechanism of acquired EGFR-TKI resistance with EMT. At the mRNA level, ZEB1 (TCF8), a known regulator of EMT, was >20-fold higher in HCC4006ER cells than in HCC4006 cells, and increased ZEB1 protein level was also detected. Furthermore, numerous ZEB1 responsive genes, such as CDH1 (E-cadherin), ST14, and vimentin, were coordinately regulated along with increased ZEB1 in HCC4006ER cells. We also identified ZEB1 overexpression and an EMT phenotype in several NSCLC cells and human NSCLC samples with acquired EGFR-TKI resistance. Short-interfering RNA against ZEB1 reversed the EMT phenotype and, importantly, restored erlotinib sensitivity in HCC4006ER cells. The level of micro-RNA-200c, which can negatively regulate ZEB1, was significantly reduced in HCC4006ER cells. Our results suggest that increased ZEB1 can drive EMT-related acquired resistance to EGFR-TKIs in NSCLC. Attempts should be made to explore targeting ZEB1 to resensitize TKI-resistant tumors.
Improving Clinical Visual Detection—Potential for Caries Clinical Trials

It has been the norm in caries clinical trials to measure caries increment by several different caries-recording systems, including the crude DMF-S/T index. However, there is a reserved attitude as to whether to subdivide the non-cavitated lesions and use arrested lesions in clinical trials. This has been due to the belief that it is not possible to achieve reliable data of the early stages of the disease (Radike, 1972). However, recently, Ekstrand et al. (1997, 1998) showed that it was possible: (1) to differentiate between different stages of non-cavitated occlusal lesions, (2) to differentiate between active and inactive occlusal lesions, and (3) to predict the depth of the lesion. In at least 4 other clinical studies, the reproducibility of recording initial active lesions, cavitated active lesions, and arrested lesions was found to be adequate (Carvalho et al., 1989; Nyvad et al, 1999; Ekstrand et al., 2000; Machiulskiene et al., 2001). Since caries today is a more slowly developing disease in many countries in the world, this will result in prolongation of the duration of the clinical trial, which will increase the costs. As indicated above, there is now sufficient evidence that caries can be clinically diagnosed accurately and reliably in earlier stages as well as in an arrested stage. If such stages of caries are used as outcome variables in caries clinical trials, they may have a positive influence on the trials’ duration and costs.
Best practices for remote psychological assessment via telehealth technologies.

The use and capabilities of telehealth technologies to conduct psychological assessments remotely are expanding. Clinical practitioners and researchers need to be aware of what influences the psychometric properties of telehealth-based assessments to assure optimal and competent assessments. The purpose of this review is to discuss the specific factors that influence the validity and reliability of remote psychological assessments and to provide best practices recommendations. Specific factors discussed include the lack of physical presence, technological issues, patient and provider acceptance of and comfort with technology, and procedural issues. Psychometric data regarding telehealth-based psychological assessment and limitations to these data, as well as cultural, ethical, and safety considerations are discussed. The information presented is applicable to all mental health professionals who conduct psychological assessment with telehealth technologies.
Illumination Invariant Face Recognition System using Local Directional Pattern and Principal Component Analysis

: In this paper, we propose an illumination-robust face recognition system using local directional pattern images. Usually, local pattern descriptors including local binary pattern and local directional pattern have been used in the field of the face recognition and facial expression recognition, since local pattern descriptors have important properties to be robust against the illumination changes and computational simplicity. Thus, this paper represents the face recognition approach that employs the local directional pattern descriptor and two-dimensional principal analysis algorithms to achieve enhanced recognition accuracy. In particular, we propose a novel methodology that utilizes the transformed image obtained from local directional pattern descriptor as the direct input image of two-dimensional principal analysis algorithms, unlike that most of previous works employed the local pattern descriptors to acquire the histogram features. The performance evaluation of proposed system was performed using well-known approaches such as principal component analysis and Gabor-wavelets based on local binary pattern, and publicly available databases including the Yale B database and the CMU-PIE database were employed.
Felicitous Labellings of Some Network Models

Building up graph models to simulate scale-free networks is an important method since graphs have been used in researching scale-free networks. One use labelled graphs for distinguishing objects of communication and information networks. In this paper some methods are given for constructing larger felicitous graphs from smaller graphs having special felicitous labellings, and some network models are shown to be felicitous.
20.6 A 0.5V-VIN 1.44mA-class event-driven digital LDO with a fully integrated 100pF output capacitor

In today's system-on-chip designs, a low-drop-out voltage regulator (LDO) is one of the most popular choices to create a distinct voltage domain owing to its high power density. Many LDOs, however, need a large output capacitor (C<inf>OUT</inf>) to compensate a fast load current (I<inf>LOAD</inf>) change, increasing the number of pins and off-chip components. In synchronous digital LDO designs, high frequency can miniaturize C<inf>OUT</inf>, but it inevitably causes power inefficiency [2]. A recent work has instead employed an event-driven (ED) control scheme to alleviate the C<inf>OUT</inf> requirement, demonstrating a 400µA-class digital LDO with a C<inf>OUT</inf> of 400pF [1]. The ED scheme is promising, but it is still desirable to develop an LDO which can support a larger I<inf>LOAD</inf> with a smaller C<inf>OUT</inf>. This is indeed a daunting challenge since a substantial reduction in feedback latency (T<inf>LAT</inf>) is necessary to retain the same level of output voltage change (ΔV<inf>OUT</inf>) with a smaller C<inf>OUT</inf>. In this work, to shorten latency, we propose to infuse fine-grained parallelism into ED control systems and develop a fully integrated digital LDO. The prototyped LDO can support 1.44mA I<inf>LOAD</inf> at 0.5V V<inf>IN</inf>, 0.45V V<inf>SP</inf>, and 99.2% peak current efficiency. The LDO shows less than 34mV (7.6%) ΔV<inf>OUT</inf> with a 0.1nF C<inf>OUT</inf> when ΔI<inf>LOAD</inf> is ±1.44mA.
Gender difference in affective and nonaffective psychosis

Introduction Recent studies have begun to examine sex differences in first-episode psychosis in an attempt to explain the heterogeneity of the illness. The aim of the current study was to examine sex differences with respect to sociodemographics and clinical presentations, including cognitive, affective, and psychotic aspects, in both nonaffective and affective groups at their first episode of psychosis. Materials and methods Sixty-one men and 29 women, 18 years of age or older, were recruited, admitted in the psychological medicine hospital, state of Kuwait, from January 2007 up to December 2009 for treatment of first-episode psychosis. All patients were divided according to the consensus clinical diagnoses on the basis of a structured clinical interview of DSM-IV into two groups: patients with nonaffective psychosis (n = 49, 39 men and 10 women) and patients with affective psychosis (n = 41, 22 men and 19 women). Psychometric assessment was carried out using Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Young Mania Rating Scale, Positive and Negative Syndrome Scales, Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, and (Wechsler Memory Scale - 3rd ed.) subtests including measures for verbal, visual and working memory, attention, and executive functions as well as the trail-making test. Assessment of neurological side effects was carried out using the Simpson-Angus Scale. The assessment was carried out at baseline and after 2 years of follow-up. Results Men in the nonaffective psychosis group (schizophrenia, schizoaffective, and delusional disorder) were significantly younger, had an early age at onset (3-5 years), higher level of education, and intact occupational function compared with women who had a more stable marital life. Men required a longer period for improvement in symptoms and were more sensitive to neurological side effects than women. Sociodemographics were comparable in both sexes in the affective psychosis group (bipolar psychosis and depressive psychosis). In terms of symptom presentation, there was no statistically significant impact of sex on different cognitive, affective, and psychotic aspects of presentation in both diagnostic groups at baseline and after 2 years of follow-up. Men had more severe affective symptoms, and more positive and low negative scores compared with women in the nonaffective psychosis group. Although nonsignificant, the affective group had higher cognitive functions and a faster rate of improvement compared with the nonaffective group. Conclusion and recommendation Study of sex differences in first-episode psychosis is still a challenging and a controversial issue in the short term, especially in clinical presentation. Longitudinal studies and long-term follow-up where biological and psychosocial variables are interacting are highly recommended.
High Mobility High-Ge-Content SiGe PMOSFETs Using Al2O3/HfO2 Stacks With In-Situ O3 Treatment

We developed an Al<sub>2</sub>O<sub>3</sub>/HfO<sub>2</sub> bi-layer gate dielectric with an <italic>in-situ</italic> O<sub>3</sub> treatment for interface state density (D<sub>it</sub>) and gate leakage current density (J<sub>g</sub>) reductions on SiGe channels. We observed Ge-content dependent equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) scaling and EOT 0.44 nm was achieved with an MOS capacitor with a Si<sub>0.05</sub>Ge<sub>0.95</sub> substrate. The O<sub>3</sub> treatment enabled application to non-planar device structures and we demonstrated five orders of magnitude lower off currents (I<sub>OFF</sub>), a sub-threshold slope of 68 mV/decade, and a very high hole mobility of 457 cm<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{2}\text{V}^{\mathrm {-1}}\text{s}^{\mathrm {-1}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> at an inversion carrier density (N<sub>inv</sub>) of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$1\times 10^{13}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> cm<inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">$^{\mathrm {-2}}$ </tex-math></inline-formula> for asymmetrically strained SiGe PMOSFETs with Ge% of 65%–70%.
Discourse in a Material World

We challenge recent assertions that discourse studies cannot de facto address materiality. We demonstrate how a Foucauldian theorization of discourse provides a way to analyse the co-constitutive nature of discursive and material processes, as well as explore the power relations implicated in these relationships. To illustrate our argument, we identify exemplary studies that have effectively combined a study of discourse and different aspects of materiality – bodies, objects, spaces, and practices. In doing so, we show how discourse scholars are able to study both materiality and power relations.
MEAN RACIAL‐ETHNIC DIFFERENCES IN EMPLOYEE SALES PERFORMANCE: THE MODERATING ROLE OF DIVERSITY CLIMATE

Using data from a sample of 6,130 workers employed in 743 stores of a large, U.S. retail organization, this study assessed whether diversity climate moderated mean racial-ethnic differences in employee sales performance. Findings indicated Whites exhibited significantly higher sales performance than Hispanics but not Blacks, as moderated by diversity climate. As hypothesized, racial-ethnic disparities disfavoring Blacks and Hispanics were largest in stores with less supportive diversity climates and smallest in stores with highly pro-diversity climates. Financial analysis of these interactions revealed sizable increments in sales per hour in response to effective diversity management, with strong organizational bottom-line implications. Limitations of the study and future research needs are noted. The United States workforce is becoming more demographically diverse in terms of race-ethnicity, sex, and age (Doverspike, Taylor, Shultz, & McKay, 2000; Fullerton & Toossii, 2001). Due to increasing numbers of personnel from underrepresented groups entering firms, diversity management will become more paramount. Numerous benefits of diversity have been offered including coverage of projected labor shortages, increased access to untapped consumer markets, improved corporate image, reduced legal liability, and greater creativity, problem-solving ability, employee performance, and market share (Cox, 1994; Joshi, Liao, & Jackson, 2006; Richard, Barnett, Dwyer, & Chadwick, 2004; Sacco & Schmitt, 2005). Mean racial-ethnic group differences in job performance, disfavoring Blacks and Hispanics, relative to Whites, challenge the purported
Local Anesthetics Reduce Mortality and Protect against Renal and Hepatic Dysfunction in Murine Septic Peritonitis

Background:Mortality from sepsis frequently results from multiple organ injury and dysfunction. Cecal ligation and puncture is an established murine model of septic peritonitis that produces septic shock characterized by an initial hyperinflammatory response. In addition to their anesthetic properties, local anesthetics have been shown to attenuate inflammatory responses both in vivo and in vitro. In the current study, the ability of local anesthetic infusions to protect against sepsis-induced mortality, as well as renal and hepatic dysfunction after cecal ligation and puncture, was investigated. Methods:C57BL/6 mice received mini-osmotic pumps containing saline (vehicle), 10% lidocaine, or 1% bupivacaine and were subjected to cecal ligation and puncture. Twenty-four hours after cecal ligation and puncture, renal and hepatic functions were assessed as well as markers of inflammation (proinflammatory cytokine protein and mRNA concentrations and myeloperoxidase activity). Renal apoptosis and 7-day survival was also assessed. Results:Mice treated with lidocaine or bupivacaine infusion showed improved survival and had significantly lower plasma creatinine, aspartate aminotransferase, and alanine aminotransferase concentrations compared with mice receiving vehicle alone. Significant reduction in plasma tumor necrosis factor-&agr; and keratinocyte-derived chemokine, as well as reductions in myeloperoxidase activity, intracellular adhesion molecule-1 protein expression, mRNA concentrations of proinflammatory markers, and apoptosis were observed in renal cortices from both local anesthetic groups. Conclusions:The current data demonstrate that local anesthetic infusions confer a protective effect in mice from septic peritonitis by attenuating the hyperacute inflammatory response. This suppression resulted in improved mortality and less progression to acute kidney and liver injury and dysfunction.
Modeling and Analysis of a Deep Learning Pipeline for Cloud based Video Analytics

Video analytics systems based on deep learning approaches are becoming the basis of many widespread applications including smart cities to aid people and traffic monitoring. These systems necessitate massive amounts of labeled data and training time to perform fine tuning of hyper-parameters for object classification. We propose a cloud based video analytics system built upon an optimally tuned deep learning model to classify objects from video streams. The tuning of the hyper-parameters including learning rate, momentum, activation function and optimization algorithm is optimized through a mathematical model for efficient analysis of video streams. The system is capable of enhancing its own training data by performing transformations including rotation, flip and skew on the input dataset making it more robust and self-adaptive. The use of in-memory distributed training mechanism rapidly incorporates large number of distinguishing features from the training dataset - enabling the system to perform object classification with least human assistance and external support. The validation of the system is performed by means of an object classification case-study using a dataset of 100GB in size comprising of 88,432 video frames on an 8 node cloud. The extensive experimentation reveals an accuracy and precision of 0.97 and 0.96 respectively after a training of 6.8 hours. The system is scalable, robust to classification errors and can be customized for any real-life situation.
Towards Automatic Veracity Assessment of Open Source Information

Intelligence analysis is dependent on veracity assessment of Open Source Information (OSINF) which includes assessment of the reliability of sources and credibility of information. Traditionally, OSINF veracity assessment is done by intelligence analysts manually, but the large volumes, high velocity, and variety make it infeasible to continue doing so, and calls for automation. Based on meetings, interviews and questionnaires with military personnel, analysis of related work and state of the art, we identify the challenges and propose an approach and a corresponding framework for automated veracity assessment of OSINF. The framework provides a basis for new tools which will give the intelligence analysts the ability to automatically or semi-automatically assess veracity of larger amounts of data in a shorter amount of time. Instead of spending their time working with irrelevant, ambiguous, contradicting, biased, or plain wrong data, they can spend more time on analysis.
Engineered Molecular Chain Ordering in Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes/Polyaniline Composite Films for High-Performance Organic Thermoelectric Materials.

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs)/polyaniline (PANI) composite films with enhanced thermoelectric properties were prepared by combining in situ polymerization and solution processing. Conductive atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffraction measurements confirmed that solution processing and strong π-π interactions between the PANI and SWNTs induced the PANI molecules to form a highly ordered structure. The improved degree of order of the PANI molecular arrangement increased the carrier mobility and thereby enhanced the electrical transport properties of PANI. The maximum in-plane electrical conductivity and power factor of the SWNTs/PANI composite films reached 1.44×10(3) S cm(-1) and 217 μW m(-1) K(-2) , respectively, at room temperature. Furthermore, a thermoelectric generator fabricated with the SWNTs/PANI composite films showed good electric generation ability and stability. A high power density of 10.4 μW cm(-2) K(-1) was obtained, which is superior to most reported results obtained in organic thermoelectric modules.