Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Visualization of colorectal polyps with spiral CT colography: evaluation of processing parameters with perspective volume rendering.

PURPOSE To evaluate two key processing steps for detection of colon polyps with spiral computed tomographic (CT) colography with perspective volume rendering (PVR): image reconstruction and opacity assignment of the attenuation data. MATERIALS AND METHODS Spiral CT was performed in 10 patients with known polyps confirmed at colonoscopy, and detailed quantitative analyses were performed of data obtained in four. First, anatomic fidelity of three-dimensional (3D) images generated from two-dimensional (2D) source images with equal voxel dimensions (87%-90% overlap) was compared with 3D images generated from 2D source images with unequal voxel dimensions (0%-80% overlap). Next, the relative dimensions of colorectal polyps to adjacent structures were evaluated for various opacity threshold settings. Then, step and sigmoidal opacity functions were compared with respect to image smoothness and edge sharpness. RESULTS PVR images generated after interpolation of image data reconstructed with at least 60% overlap were equivalent in image quality to PVR images generated from source images with equal voxel dimensions. Relative polyp-to-haustral fold dimensions demonstrated substantial distortions with opacity thresholds below -700 HU. The 3D PVR images generated with the sigmoidal opacity function were significantly smoother than those generated with the step opacity function (paired t test, P < .02), with small differences noted in edge sharpness. CONCLUSION Use of highly overlapping source images (87%-90%) was not necessary to generate 3D PVR images of colorectal polyps. Image artifacts were suppressed with use of an appropriate opacity threshold and a sigmoidal opacity function without substantial loss in edge sharpness.
Numerical investigations on relation between critical current density and third harmonic voltage in HTS

The inductive method for measuring the critical current density is investigated by using the numerical simulation. When the high-temperature superconductor is exposed to the magnetic field generated by the ac coil current, the voltage induced in the coil contains not only a linear component but higher harmonics. The harmonic voltages are numerically calculated as a function of the coil current. The results of computations show that, above a certain limit of the coil current, the third harmonic voltage is suddenly excited. In addition, it is also found that the square root of the third harmonic voltage is approximately a linear function of the coil current.
Design and construction of a droplet based manufacturing machine

In this paper a system is introduced which makes 3D parts and patterns. These patterns are made up of metal droplets. The raw material is in the shape of wire. Molten droplets are generated in the droplet generator nozzle and deposit on a substrate having proper deposition rate, temperature and volume. By settlement of droplets on certain places beside and over each other in several layers, arbitrary 3D object is constructed. 60%Sn/ 40%Pb alloy is used as raw material in the experiments and it is possible to use different wires with various diameters and materials with a little change in the apparatus. Here the design essence of the constructed droplet based manufacturing machine is investigated. Furthermore the dependency of drop volume to apparatus factors is presented. Knowing the drop size is essential in making samples. Drop size is dependent to nozzle diameter, nozzle temperature and wire-feed velocity. Temperature and deposition rate of droplets are controlled in the system. Some droplets and simple parts that are produced by this apparatus are presented too.
Differentiation of cerebellar bipotential glial preecurosrs into oligodendrocytes in primary culture: Development profile of surface antigens and mitotic activity

We have analyzed the changes in surface antigenic properties of cerebellar bipotential precursors of oligodendrocytes and type‐2 astrocytes during their differention into oligodendrocytes in serum‐free cultures and relationship between antigen expression and proliferation of these cells. Double immunofluorescence experiments with different monoclonal fluroescence experiments with different monoclonal antibodies (mabs) performed at various stages in vitro and immunocytolysis experiments provided evidence for the following antigenic development profile: at early stages in culture the progenitor cells are recognized by the mabs A2B5 and LB1 (which bind to surface gangliosides) but not by other mabs known to label immature or mature oligodendrocytes (04, 01, and anti‐galactocerebroside [GalC]). A few days later, the precursors start to express the 04 antigen; at this stage they maintain a bipotential nature and, in the presence of serum, they differentiate into type‐2 astrocytes. If maintained in serum‐free medium, the progenitor cells enter the oligodendrocyte differentiation compartment, acquiring GalC postivity. Soon after compartment GalC+, the cells lose both bipotentiality and the surface antigens binding A2B5 and LB1. They conserve, however, the antigen binding 04. Experiments of [3H]thymidine autoradiography combined with immunofluorescence showed that a greater proportion of the LB1+ cells incroporated the radioactive nucleoside into their nuclei as compared to the 04+ cells. No incorporation was present in GalC+ oligodendrocytes.
Employee motivation to innovate and resources management: the mediating role of organisational commitment

Innovation and its management have become very important for the growth of any organisation. In this paper, the influence of tangible and intangible resources management and organisational commitment on employee motivation to innovate is analysed. The sample consists of 483 software engineers from 180 small and medium sized software organisations in Chennai, India. Structural equation modelling technique was utilised to analyse the mediation effect of organisational commitment and the inter relationships of the variables. Results from the analysis show that tangible and intangible resources management and organisational commitment have a positive influence on employee motivation to innovate. Organisational commitment has a partial mediation effect on the relationship of tangible resource management and intangible resource management with employee motivation to innovate.
An induction motor model for transient simulation

Demand of electromagnetic transient simulations is increasing, since fault-current analysis and power-quality simulations involving power-electronics converters are required for modern power systems. Among various loads, induction motors are typical rotating loads. The induction motor model available in EMTP uses a predictor-corrector interior point method for connecting the model to the rest of the power system. However, it takes a long calculation time in the case of a large-scale power system due to the complicated algorithm. This paper proposes an induction motor model which uses a simple feedback algorithm to identify the phase angle of the motor terminal voltages so that the proposed model can be connected to the rest of the power system in a much simpler way. The proposed induction motor model itself is a typical dq-frame model. The model is validated by comparison with experimental results, with the simulation scenarios of a star delta start up and a 3LG-O fault with large slip changes.
Interaction between exercise and food restriction: effects on longevity of male rats.

Male rats that exercise in running wheels have a longer average survival than freely eating sedentary controls but, in contrast to food-restricted sedentary controls of the same weight, show no extension of maximal life span (J. Appl. Physiol. 59: 826-831, 1985). To test the possibility that exercise may counteract a life-extending effect of decreased availability of energy for certain biological processes such as cell proliferation, we examined the combined effects of exercise and food restriction on longevity of male rats. As before, wheel running improved average length of life, 978 +/- 172 vs. 875 +/- 175 (SD) days, for the sedentary controls (P less than 0.01) without increasing maximal life span. Paired-weight controls, food restricted (approximately 30% below ad libitum) to weight the same as the runners, showed increases in both average (1,056 +/- 144 days) and maximal life span. Food-restricted runners, with intake restricted to the same extent (approximately 30%), had an increased mortality rate over the first approximately 50% of their survival curve up to approximately 900 days of age; their average life span (995 +/- 226) was similar to that of the control group of runners and shorter than that of their paired-weight food-restricted sedentary controls (1,088 +/- 159 days, P less than 0.05). However, after approximately 900 days of age the food-restricted runners' survival became similar to that of the food-restricted sedentary groups, with a comparable increase in maximal life span. Thus the exercise did not counteract the increase in maximal life span induced by food restriction. (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
A direct isolated bi-directional converter as a power electronic building block (PEBB)

A converter is described in this paper for use as a power electronics building block (PEBB). This PEBB can be utilized by itself or as a module in a larger converter. The converter utilizes a transformer, which adds isolation to the converter along with increasing the possible ways of configuring the modules. The PEBB is also bi-directional, which enables the PEBB to be suitable for a wider range of sources. The proposed PEBB is a direct converter. The direct conversion eliminates a capacitive filter, and when utilized with soft switching, increases the frequency of the voltage and current waveforms applied to the converter's filters. These advantages result in fewer components, reduced cost, higher reliability, smaller size, and higher operating temperatures for switches. When the PEBB is utilized in the cascade configurations proposed herein, the direct conversion further increases the above advantages. The converter also utilizes a commutation method that short-circuits the transformer winding and results in soft switching under all load conditions, bi-directional power transfer capability, and substantially reduces the power rating of the clamping circuitry. These advantages are typically possible with no increase in conduction loss, VA ratings, or number of components when compared to a hard switching converter. Due to the advantages above, the proposed converter results in a PEBB with high performance, small size, low cost, and more possibilities for configuring the PEBBs.
Psychological distress among immigrants from high- and low-income countries: Findings from the Oslo Health Study

This study compared psychological distress between immigrants from high- and low-income countries living in Oslo, and investigated whether pre- or post-migration factors could explain any such differences in distress levels. A cross-sectional survey with self-administered questionnaires was conducted between 2000 and 2001 among 812 immigrants from high-income countries and 1434 immigrants from low-income countries living in Oslo. The Hopkins Symptom Checklist (HSCL)-10 was used to measure psychological distress. The prevalence rates of psychological distress among immigrants from high- and low-income countries were 10.3% and 24.3%, respectively (P=0.001). Unadjusted odds ratio (OR) of distress among the latter group was 2.38 with 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.73–3.29. The first adjustment (socio-demographic variables) hardly attenuated the difference reported (adjusted OR =2.25, 95% CI 1.58–3.21), the second adjustment (socio-demographic and pre-migration variables) reduced the difference (adjusted OR =1.86, 95% CI 1.28–2.69) while the last adjustment (socio-demographic and pre- and post-migration variables) attenuated the difference below the level of significance (adjusted OR =1.33, 95% CI 0.88–2.01). This means that both pre-migration and post-migration factors were associated with the higher level of distress among immigrants from low-income countries, the post-migration factors in the host country probably being the most important.
Provably Pointless Propagator Calls

CSP instances are commonly solved by backtracking search combined with constraint propagation. In any search state, constraint solvers aim to remove any literal (variable-value pair) that can be shown not to be part of any solution. This literal removal, called propagation, is the beating heart of modern constraint solvers. A significant proportion of the runtime of propagating constraint solvers is spent running propagation algorithms. Therefore any mechanism for reducing how frequently propagators are called leads directly to significant performance improvements. One family of popular techniques is dynamic triggering – this avoids invoking a propagator when it would perform no useful work. While this technique has been successful in practice, it has not yet been studied theoretically. This paper provides a theoretical framework for understanding when we can prove a literal deletion does not require a propagator to be executed. To achieve this, we describe supports: a support for a constraint is a set of literals whose presence in a search state ensures that propagating the constraint will not remove any literals. Therefore running the propagator when a literal outside the support is deleted is a waste of time. By characterising supports and giving a definition of dynamic and static supports for the CSP, we provide the framework for a proper analysis. We show how the number of triggers required for different constraints differs widely, and how, for many constraints, dynamic triggering allows much smaller supports. We also show the theoretical complexity of verifying the correctness of supports.
Ethnic differences in social support after initial receipt of an abnormal mammogram.

OBJECTIVES We examine access to and type of social support after initial receipt of an abnormal mammogram across non-Latina White (NLW), African American, and Latina women. METHOD This cross-sectional study used a mixed method design, with quantitative and qualitative measures. Women were recruited through 2 community advocates and 3 breast-health-related care organizations. RESULTS With regard to access, African American women were less likely to access social support relative to NLW counterparts. Similar nonsignificant differences were found for Latinas. Women did not discuss results with family and friends to avoid burdening social networks and negative reactions. Networks' geographic constraints and medical mistrust influenced Latina and African American women's decisions to discuss results. With regard to type of social support, women reported emotional support across ethnicity. Latina and African American women reported more instrumental support, whereas NLW women reported more informational support in the context of their well-being. CONCLUSIONS There are shared and culturally unique aspects of women's experiences with social support after initially receiving an abnormal mammogram. Latina and African American women may particularly benefit from informational support from health care professionals. Communitywide efforts to mitigate mistrust and encourage active communication about cancer may improve ethnic disparities in emotional well-being and diagnostic resolution during initial receipt of an abnormal mammogram. (PsycINFO Database Record
A fuzzy constrained stream sequential pattern mining algorithm

Sequential pattern mining is an interesting data mining problem with many real-world applications. Though, new applications introduce a new form of data called data stream, no study has been reported on mining sequential patterns from quantitative data stream. This paper presents a novel algorithm, for mining quantitative streams. The proposed algorithm can mine exact set of fuzzy sequential patterns in fuzzy sliding window and gap constraints entailing the most recent transactions in a data stream. In addition, the proposed algorithm can also mine non-quantitative or transaction-based sequential patterns over a data stream. Numerical results show the running time and the memory usage of proposed algorithm in the case of quantitative and customer-transaction-based sequence counting are proportional to the size of the fuzzy sliding window and gap constraints.
Picking Up the Mantle of “Expert”: Assigned Roles, Assertion of Identity, and Peer Recognition Within a Programming Class

Changing an established role in a classroom is difficult. It involves constructing a new set of relations within a community. In this article we investigate how students with newly developed interest and experience in programming developed outside the classroom pick up and establish their roles as experts in programming within the classroom community. More specifically, we focus on how two 11-year-old software designers shifted their established roles in their classroom to gain status as expert programmers. We use an identity lens to understand how peer expertise was established in the context of a classroom community, adopting a multifaceted perspective of identity by focusing on an individual's narrativization of self, full, or peripheral participation among a group of people, and individuals' social recognition by others. Our findings point to the importance of both positive positioning by authority figures in the classroom and activities and roles that provide opportunities to establish intersubjectivity among peers in facilitating students' identities as experts in the classroom. Students' willingness to take up a new position in the established activity system also played a role. We consider implications of how making roles flexible within classroom stratification may provide opportunities for more students see themselves as experts.
Protective role of withaferin‐A on 7,12‐dimethylbenz(a)anthracene‐induced genotoxicity in bone marrow of Syrian golden hamsters

The present study has investigated the antigenotoxic effect of withaferin‐A, a steroidal lactone obtained from the roots and leaves of Withania somnifera, in 7,12‐dimethylbenz(a)anthracene (DMBA)‐induced genotoxicity. Measurement of the frequency of micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes (MnPCEs) and chromosomal aberrations is used as cytogenetic endpoints. A single intraperitoneal injection of DMBA (30 mg/kg b.w.) to golden Syrian hamsters resulted in marked elevation in the frequency of MnPCEs and aberrations in the chromosomal structure. Hamsters pretreated with withaferin‐A intraperitonealy 2 h before the injection of DMBA, significantly reduced the frequency of MnPCEs and chromosomal aberrations such as chromosomal break, gap, minute, and fragment. Our results thus demonstrated the antigenotoxic effect of withaferin‐A in DMBA‐induced genotoxicity in the bone marrow of golden Syrian hamsters. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biochem Mol Toxicol 22:251–258, 2008; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/jbt.20235
Diabetes mellitus does not adversely affect outcomes from a critical illness*

Objective:Chronic diabetes mellitus (DM) is a known cause of multisystem injury. The effect of DM in acute critical illness may also be detrimental, but is not specifically known. We hypothesized that the preexisting diagnosis of DM is an independent risk factor for mortality in critically ill patients. Design:Parallel retrospective and prospective cohort study. Setting:Two large patient datasets were used: the retrospective University HealthSystem Consortium database (UHC) and the prospective Mayo Clinic Acute Physiology And Chronic Health Evaluation III critical care database (Mayo). Patients:Inclusion criteria were admission to an intensive care unit and age ≥18 yrs. Patients with diabetic ketoacidosis or hyperosmolar nonketotic coma were excluded. A total of 1,509,890 patients (including 143,078 deaths) in the UHC cohort and 36,414 patients (including 3562 deaths) in the Mayo cohort were included in the study analysis. Measurements and Main Results:The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality compared between patients with a history of DM and all other patients. Other outcomes included in-hospital mortality in prespecified subgroups. In the UHC dataset, patients with DM had a lower unadjusted odds ratio (0.90, 95% confidence interval 0.89–0.91, p < .001) and a lower adjusted effect on mortality (odds ratio 0.75, 0.74–0.76, p < .001) compared with that seen in patients without DM. In the Mayo dataset, patients with DM had a comparable unadjusted odds ratio (1.07, 0.97–1.17, p = NS) and a lower adjusted effect on mortality (odds ratio 0.88, 0.79–0.98, p = .022) compared with that seen in patients without DM. A lower mortality in diabetic patients held across multiple demographic subgroups, including patients who underwent coronary-artery bypass grafting (UHC data: unadjusted odds ratio 0.66, 0.62–0.71, p < .001). Conclusions:Critically ill adults with DM do not have an increased mortality compared with that seen in patients without DM, and may have a decreased mortality. Further investigation needs to be done to determine the mechanism for this effect.
Oral antibiotics for infections due to multidrug-resistant Gram-negative organisms

Abstract We determined minimum inhibitory concentrations of rifampicin, nitrofurantoin, amoxicillin–clavulanic acid, and cefdinir, plus a combination of amoxicillin–clavulanic acid and cefdinir by broth microdilution for mainly wound isolates of Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae. E. coli and K. pneumoniae susceptibilities increased by combining amoxicillin–clavulanic acid and cefdinir.