Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Skeletonization of Volumetric Angiograms for Display

The display of three-dimensional angiograms can benefit from the knowledge of quantitative shape features such as tangent and curvature of the centerline of vessels. These can be obtained from a curve-like skeleton representation. If connectivity and topology are preserved, and if geometrical constraints such as smoothness and centeredness are satisfied, it is possible to estimate length, orientation, curvature, and torsion. It is also required that no part of the original object be left unrepresented. An efficient method for the identification of such shape components is developed. First, a suitable representation is obtained using a voxel coding approach to yield connected and labeled unit-thick paths. The desired features are estimated from a smoothed version of the skeleton produced by a moving average filter. The computational cost is linear, of the order of Nobject, the total number of object voxels contained in the binary volumetric data. The method is also shown to be robust to boundary noise. Examples are discussed.
Project management process ontologies: a proof of concept

Work is described that establishes the feasibility of representing project management processes as ontologies. The proof of concept is the creation of a prototype ontological model of the project management processes prescribed by the PRINCE2® project management method, the de facto standard sponsored by the United Kingdom government for public sector projects. The prototype was created using the Protege 4 ontological modelling tool which generates a representation of the ontology as a collection of axioms expressed in OWL, a language developed to facilitate the development of semantic web applications. The prototype confirmed the usefulness of ontologies in modelling project management processes. Further potential applications have been identified such as supporting process model tailoring, and checking the compliance of suppliers stated methods with standards. However, the Protege 4 ontological modelling environment would appear to present difficulties for domain experts wishing to codify bodies of knowledge as its reasoning rules can be counter-intuitive.
Early parental death and its effects on the establishment of intimate relationships in adulthood

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the death of a parent in childhood on the formation of subsequent intimate relationships in adulthood. It was expected that participants who experienced early parental death would report a greater fear of the formation of intimate relationships than those without such parental loss as measured by the Fear of Intimacy Scale (Descutner & Thelen, 1991). It was also expected that participants whose parent died by age seven would report greater fear of intimacy than those whose loss occurred after age seven. A total of 81 individuals participated in this study, 15 of whom experienced early parental death. No significant differences in scores were found between the group with parental death and the group without parental death, nor between those whose loss occurred by age seven and those with loss after age seven. The results were discussed with regard to implications for future research.
Long-term follow-up analysis of HD9601 trial comparing ABVD versus Stanford V versus MOPP/EBV/CAD in patients with newly diagnosed advanced-stage Hodgkin's lymphoma: a study from the Intergruppo Italiano Linfomi.

PURPOSE The Intergruppo Italiano Linfomi HD9601 trial compared doxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine, and dacarbazine (ABVD) versus doxorubicin, vinblastine, mechloretamine, vincristine, bleomycin, etoposide, and prednisone (Stanford V [StV]) versus the combination of mechlorethamine, vincristine, procarbazine, prednisone (MOPP) with epidoxorubicin, bleomycin, vinblastine (EBV), lomustine, doxorubicin, and vindesine (CAD) (MOPP/EBV/CAD [MEC]) for the initial treatment of advanced-stage Hodgkin's lymphoma to select which regimen would best support a reduced radiotherapy program (limited to two or fewer sites of either previous bulky or partially remitting disease). Superiority of ABVD and MEC to StV was demonstrated. We report analysis of long-term outcome and toxicity. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients with stage IIB, III, or IV were randomly assigned among six cycles of ABVD, three cycles of StV, and six cycles of MEC; radiotherapy was administered in 76, 71, and 50 patients in the three arms, respectively. RESULTS Currently, the median follow-up is 86 months; in the prolonged observation period, eight additional failures, including two relapses, both in the StV arm, and six additional deaths in complete response were recorded. The 10-year overall survival rates were 87%, 80%, and 78% for ABVD, MEC, and StV, respectively (P = .4). The 10-year failure-free survival was 75%, 74%, and 49% in the ABVD, MEC, and StV arms, respectively (P < .001). The 10-year disease-free survival of patients treated or not with radiotherapy (RT) showed no difference for ABVD or MEC (85% v 80% and 93% v 68%), and a statistically significant difference for StV (76% v 33%; P = .004). No significant long-term toxicity was recorded. CONCLUSION The long-term analysis confirmed ABVD and MEC superiority to StV. The use of RT after StV was established as mandatory. ABVD is still to be considered as the standard treatment with a good balance between efficacy and toxicity.
Sugar Control of the Plant Cell Cycle: Differential Regulation of Arabidopsis D-Type Cyclin Gene Expression

ABSTRACT In most plants, sucrose is the major transported carbon source. Carbon source availability in the form of sucrose is likely to be a major determinant of cell division, and mechanisms must exist for sensing sugar levels and mediating appropriate control of the cell cycle. We show that sugar availability plays a major role during the G1 phase by controlling the expression of CycD cyclins inArabidopsis. CycD2 mRNA levels increase within 30 min of the addition of sucrose; CycD3 is induced after 4 h. This corresponds to induction of CycD2 expression early in G1and CycD3 expression in late G1 near the S-phase boundary. CycD2 and CycD3 induction is independent both of progression to a specific point in the cell cycle and of protein synthesis. Protein kinase activity of CycD2- and CycD3-containing cyclin-dependent kinases is consistent with the observed regulation of their mRNA levels. CycD2 and CycD3 therefore act as direct mediators of the presence of sugar in cell cycle commitment. CycD3, but not CycD2, expression responds to hormones, for which we show that the presence of sugars is required. Finally, protein phosphatases are shown to be involved in regulating CycD2 and CycD3 induction. We propose that control of CycD2 and CycD3 by sucrose forms part of cell cycle control in response to cellular carbohydrate status.
Using an exact performance of Hough transform for image text segmentation

The (/spl rho/,/spl theta/)-interpretation of Hough transform (HT) is treated herein considering its facilities to localize straight lines or cut-offs in a given image. The definition of "exact" HT is introduced for the image and for the given choice of the respective HT-domain size (/spl rho//sub size/, */spl theta//sub size/). The idea of "HT inner noise" is also defined using a mean square estimate for the HT-deviations from the exact HT. Hence, a constructive method is proposed for a set of algorithms realising digital HT of an arbitrary small inner noise. The experiment of algorithms and a comparative analysis of results are also represented. The proposed method and algorithms are applied for pre-processing of hand-written text images. Besides the localisation of text rows and words, the approach proposed is especially effective for evaluation of the averaged letter slope of handwriting in the case of critical resolution of 2/spl divide/3 pixels per line and/or per distance among lines.
POI Pulse: A Multi-granular, Semantic Signature–Based Information Observatory for the Interactive Visualization of Big Geosocial Data

The volume, velocity, and variety of data that are now becoming available allow us to study urban environments based on human behaviour with a spatial, temporal, and thematic granularity that was not achievable until now. Such data-driven approaches open up additional, complementary perspectives on how urban systems function, especially if they are based on user-generated content (UGC). While the data sources, such as social media, introduce specific biases, they also open up new possibilities for scientists and the broader public. For instance, they provide answers to questions that previously could only be addressed by complex simulations or extensive human-participant surveys. Unfortunately, many of the required data sets are locked in data silos that are accessible only via restricted APIs. Even if these data could be fully accessed, their naϊve processing and visualization would surpass the abilities of modern computer architectures. Finally, the established place schemata used to study urban spaces differ substantially from UGC-based point-of-interest (POI) schemata. In this work, we present a multi-granular, data-driven, and theory-informed approach that addresses the key issues outlined above by introducing a theoretical and technical framework to interactively explore the pulse of a city based on social media.Le volume, la rapidité et la variété des données maintenant disponibles permettent d’étudier les milieux urbains en fonction du comportement humain à un niveau spatial, temporel et granulaire thématique sans précédent. De telles méthodes axées sur les données, et surtout celles fondées sur le contenu généré par l’utilisateur (CGU), proposent d’autres perspectives complémentaires sur le fonctionnement des systèmes urbains. Les sources de données (p. ex., médias sociaux) introduisent des biais précis, mais elles offrent de nouvelles possibilités aux scientifiques et au grand public (p. ex., en répondant à des questions qui, auparavant, nécessitaient des simulations complexes ou de vastes enquêtes auprès de participants humains). Malheureusement, beaucoup d’ensembles de données nécessaires sont enfermés dans des réserves de données accessibles seulement par l’entremise d’interfaces de programmation d’applications (API) restreintes. Même si l’on pouvait avoir pleinement accèsà ces données, leur traitement et leur visualisation naϊfs dépasseraient les capacités des architectures informatiques modernes. Enfin, le schéma des lieux établi que l’on utilise pour étudier les espaces urbains est considérablement différent du schéma des points d’intérêt (PI) fondés sur le CGU. L’article présente une méthode multigranulaire fondée sur la théorie et les données qui abordent les principales difficultés soulevées précédemment en introduisant un cadre théorique et technique pour explorer de façon interactive le pouls d’une ville en fonction des médias sociaux.
Young Adults With Very Low Birth Weight: Leaving the Parental Home and Sexual Relationships—Helsinki Study of Very Low Birth Weight Adults

OBJECTIVE. Although most children and adults who are born very preterm live healthy lives, they have, on average, lower cognitive scores, more internalizing behaviors, and deficits in social skills. This could well affect their transition to adulthood. We studied the tempo of first leaving the parental home and starting cohabitation with an intimate partner and sexual experience of young adults with very low birth weight (<1500 g). METHODS. In conjunction with the Helsinki Study of Very Low Birth Weight Adults, 162 very low birth weight individuals and 188 individuals who were born at term (mean age: 22.3 years [range: 18.5–27.1]) and did not have any major disability filled out a questionnaire. For analysis of their ages at events which had not occurred in all subjects, we used survival analysis (Cox regression), adjusted for gender, current height, parents' ages at the birth, maternal smoking during pregnancy, parental educational attainment, number of siblings, and parental divorce/death. RESULTS. During their late teens and early adulthood, these very low birth weight adults were less likely to leave the parental home and to start cohabiting with an intimate partner. In gender-stratified analyses, these hazard ratios were similar between genders, but the latter was statistically significant for women only. These very low birth weight adults were also less likely to experience sexual intercourse. This relationship was statistically significant for women but not for men; however, very low birth weight women and men both reported a smaller lifetime number of sex partners than did control subjects. CONCLUSIONS. Healthy young adults with very low birth weight show a delay in leaving the parental home and starting sexual activity and partnerships.
Flavanone plasma pharmacokinetics from blood orange juice in human subjects

Some blood orange juice (BOJ) flavanones may have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-allergic, hypolipidaemic, vasoprotective and anticarcinogenic properties. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the pharmacokinetics of hesperetin and naringenin in human subjects after BOJ intake. In a cross-over study, seven healthy female volunteers consumed 150 and 300 ml BOJ corresponding to about 51–102 mg hesperetin and to 6–12 mg naringenin, respectively. Plasma samples were collected before, each hour for 8 h and 24 h after BOJ administration and analysed for their content of hesperetin and naringenin by liquid chromatography–MS/MS. The plasma concentrations of these compounds were dose dependent and the peak concentration (Cmax) was reached in 5·1 (sd 0·6) h after BOJ intake. The Cmax of hesperetin was 43·4 (sd 32·4) and 79·8 (sd 60·1) ng/ml after 150 and 300 ml intake, respectively. For naringenin the plasma peak was 16·4 (sd 11·9) and 34·0 (sd 20·6) ng/ml. Moreover, the conjugated forms of these flavanones represent more than 95 % of the plasma concentration. The results indicate that both hesperetin and naringenin are bioavailable after BOJ intake; naringenin seemingly more so than hesperetin.
Ecosystem service bundles for analyzing tradeoffs in diverse landscapes

A key challenge of ecosystem management is determining how to manage multiple ecosystem services across landscapes. Enhancing important provisioning ecosystem services, such as food and timber, often leads to tradeoffs between regulating and cultural ecosystem services, such as nutrient cycling, flood protection, and tourism. We developed a framework for analyzing the provision of multiple ecosystem services across landscapes and present an empirical demonstration of ecosystem service bundles, sets of services that appear together repeatedly. Ecosystem service bundles were identified by analyzing the spatial patterns of 12 ecosystem services in a mixed-use landscape consisting of 137 municipalities in Quebec, Canada. We identified six types of ecosystem service bundles and were able to link these bundles to areas on the landscape characterized by distinct social–ecological dynamics. Our results show landscape-scale tradeoffs between provisioning and almost all regulating and cultural ecosystem services, and they show that a greater diversity of ecosystem services is positively correlated with the provision of regulating ecosystem services. Ecosystem service-bundle analysis can identify areas on a landscape where ecosystem management has produced exceptionally desirable or undesirable sets of ecosystem services.
Exploitation de préférences non-classiques dans les problèmes combinatoires : modèles et algorithmes pour les graphes

Cette these porte sur la recherche de solutions preferees dans les problemes decisionnels admettant un ensemble combinatoire de solutions. Dans les approches classiques, les preferences sont representees par une fonction scalaire additive. Cependant, dans de nombreux problemes pratiques, les preferences ne sont pas reductibles a une telle fonction. La theorie de la decision fournit des modeles de preferences plus sophistiques. Ils sont toutefois plus difficiles a exploiter algorithmiquement. Cette these cherche a concilier les preoccupations de modelisation des preferences et d'algorithmique dans une optique d'aide a la decision. On s'interesse a des problemes de graphes (arbres, chemins) ou les preferences sont representees par des structures mathematiques diverses (relations binaires, dioides). Nous proposons des algorithmes de resolution et examinons les conditions garantissant leur admissibilite. Enfin, nous specifions ces algorithmes pour des contextes decisionnels particuliers.
ATP1AL1, a Member of the Non-gastric H,K-ATPase Family, Functions as a Sodium Pump*

The human ATP1AL1-encoded protein (an α subunit of the human non-gastric H,K-ATPase) has previously been shown to assemble with the gastric H,K-ATPase β subunit (gH,Kβ) to form a functionally active ionic pump in HEK 293 cells. This pump has been found to be sensitive to both SCH 28080 and ouabain. However, the86Rb+-influx mediated by the ATP1AL1-gH,Kβ heterodimer in HEK 293 cells is at least 1 order of magnitude larger than the maximum ouabain-sensitive proton efflux detected in the same cells. In this study we find that the intracellular Na+ content in cells expressing ATP1AL1 and gH,Kβ is two times lower than that in control HEK 293 cells in response to incubation for 3 h in the presence of 1 μm ouabain. Moreover, analysis of net Na+efflux in HEK 293 expressing the ATP1AL1-gH,Kβ heterodimer reveals the presence of Na+ extrusion activity that is not sensitive to 1 μm ouabain but can be inhibited by 1 mm of this drug. In contrast, ouabain-inhibitable Na+ efflux in control HEK 293 cells is similarly sensitive to either 1 μm or 1 mm ouabain. Finally,86Rb+ influx through the ATP1AL1-gH,Kβ complex is comparable to the 1 mm ouabain-sensitive Na+ efflux in the same cells. The data presented here suggest that the enzyme formed by ATP1AL1 and the gastric H,K-ATPase β subunit in HEK 293 cells mediates primarily Na+,K+ rather than H+,K+ exchange.
Discovering linguistic structures in speech: models and applications

The ability to infer linguistic structures from noisy speech streams seems to be an innate human capability. However, reproducing the same ability in machines has remained a challenging task. In this thesis, we address this task, and develop a class of probabilistic models that discover the latent linguistic structures of a language directly from acoustic signals. In particular, we explore a nonparametric Bayesian framework for automatically acquiring a phone-like inventory of a language. In addition, we integrate our phone discovery model with adaptor grammars, a nonparametric Bayesian extension of probabilistic context-free grammars, to induce hierarchical linguistic structures, including sub-word and word-like units, directly from speech signals. When tested on a variety of speech corpora containing different acoustic conditions, domains, and languages, these models consistently demonstrate an ability to learn highly meaningful linguistic structures. In addition to learning sub-word and word-like units, we apply these models to the problem of one-shot learning tasks for spoken words, and our results confirm the importance of inducing intrinsic speech structures for learning spoken words from just one or a few examples. We also show that by leveraging the linguistic units our models discover, we can automatically infer the hidden coding scheme between the written and spoken forms of a language from a transcribed speech corpus. Learning such a coding scheme enables us to develop a completely data-driven approach to creating a pronunciation dictionary for the basis of phone-based speech recognition. This approach contrasts sharply with the typical method of creating such a dictionary by human experts, which can be a time-consuming and expensive endeavor. Our experiments show that automatically derived lexicons allow us to build speech recognizers that consistently perform closely to supervised speech recognizers, which should enable more rapid development of speech recognition capability for low-resource languages.
MTMR3 risk allele enhances innate receptor-induced signaling and cytokines by decreasing autophagy and increasing caspase-1 activation

Significance This study describes a previously undefined role for myotubularin-related protein 3 (MTMR3) in modulating pattern recognition receptor (PRR)-induced responses and identifies mechanisms mediating these outcomes in primary human macrophages. It further defines that MTMR3 in the inflammatory bowel disease risk MTMR3/HORMAD2/LIF/OSM locus accounts for the genotype-dependent regulation of PRR-initiated outcomes in macrophages. Our studies highlight mechanisms whereby MTMR3 may contribute to intestinal inflammation, specifically both by inhibiting autophagy and by enhancing signaling and cytokine secretion upon stimulation of a broad range of PRRs. Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is characterized by dysregulated host:microbial interactions and cytokine production. Host pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) are critical in regulating these interactions. Multiple genetic loci are associated with IBD, but altered functions for most, including in the rs713875 MTMR3/HORMAD2/LIF/OSM region, are unknown. We identified a previously undefined role for myotubularin-related protein 3 (MTMR3) in amplifying PRR-induced cytokine secretion in human macrophages and defined MTMR3-initiated mechanisms contributing to this amplification. MTMR3 decreased PRR-induced phosphatidylinositol 3-phosphate (PtdIns3P) and autophagy levels, thereby increasing PRR-induced caspase-1 activation, autocrine IL-1β secretion, NFκB signaling, and, ultimately, overall cytokine secretion. This MTMR3-mediated regulation required the N-terminal pleckstrin homology-GRAM domain and Cys413 within the phosphatase domain of MTMR3. In MTMR3-deficient macrophages, reducing the enhanced autophagy or restoring NFκB signaling rescued PRR-induced cytokines. Macrophages from rs713875 CC IBD risk carriers demonstrated increased MTMR3 expression and, in turn, decreased PRR-induced PtdIns3P and autophagy and increased PRR-induced caspase-1 activation, signaling, and cytokine secretion. Thus, the rs713875 IBD risk polymorphism increases MTMR3 expression, which modulates PRR-induced outcomes, ultimately leading to enhanced PRR-induced cytokines.
Performance Characterization of the Low-Power Halo Electric Propulsion System

Performance measurements have been obtained of a novel propulsion concept called the Halo thruster under development within the University of Surrey. The Halo thruster, a type of cusped-field thruster with close similarity to the cylindrical Hall thruster, is motivated by the need for low-power and low-cost electric propulsion for the small satellite sector. Two versions of the device are investigated in this study: a design using permanent magnets at high magnetic-field strength and a design using electromagnets with moderate field strength. While operating at 200 W discharge power, which is of particular interest to power-limited small satellite platforms, the permanent-magnet design achieved a maximum thrust efficiency of 8% at a specific impulse of approximately 900 s using a krypton propellant. By comparison, the electromagnet design achieved a maximum thrust efficiency of 28% at a specific impulse of approximately 1500 s at 200 W using a xenon propellant. For higher levels of power (tested up to 800.