Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Medical Multimedia Information Systems (MMIS)

In hospitals all around the world, medical multimedia information systems have gained high importance over the last few years. One of the reasons is that an increasing number of interventions are performed in a minimally invasive way. These endoscopic inspections and surgeries are performed with a tiny camera -- the endoscope -- which produces a video signal that is used to control the intervention. Apart from the viewing purpose, the video signal is also used for automatic content analysis during the intervention as well as for post-surgical usage, such as communicating operation techniques, planning future interventions, and medical forensics. Another reason is video documentation, which is even enforced by law in some countries. The problem, however, is the sheer amount of unstructured medical videos that are added to the multimedia archive on a daily basis. Without proper management and a multimedia information system, the medical videos cannot be used efficiently for post-surgical scenarios. It is therefore already foreseeable that medical multimedia information systems will gain even more attraction in the next few years. In this tutorial we will introduce the audience to this challenging new field, describe the domain-specific characteristics and challenges of medical multimedia data, introduce related use cases, and talk about existing works -- contributed by the medical imaging and robotics community, but also already partly from the multimedia community -- as well as the many open issues and challenges that bear high research potential.
Rapid molecular diagnosis of lactobacillus bacteremia by terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of the 16S rRNA gene.

OBJECTIVE Bacteremia due to lactobacilli is uncommon, yet it is increasing in frequency, especially among immunosuppressed patients. In the clinical laboratory, lactobacilli must be subcultured from positive blood cultures before identification by traditional biochemical methods. Delays in diagnosis are significant because the organisms are inherently resistant to vancomycin, a drug frequently prescribed for empiric therapy for gram-positive bacteremia. Recently, we developed a rapid terminal-restriction fragment length polymorphism (T-RFLP) diagnostic assay based on species-specific variations in the bacterial 16S rRNA gene. We sought to apply this technique to the identification of Lactobacillus spp. from three cases of bacteremia. DESIGN The results of the T-RFLP analysis are compared with two standard biochemical identification methods. METHODS Lactobacillus strains were isolated from positive clinical blood cultures. Initial suspect cultures were subcultured and characterized using an automated substrate hydrolysis system and Lactobacillus carbohydrate fermentation profiles. Further biochemical and molecular analyses were performed from isolates propagated in Lactobacillus MRS broth. DNA was extracted and the 16S rRNA gene sequenced. Two sets of fluorescent labeled primers targeting the 16S rRNA gene were used for polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with chromosomal preparations from reference strains and blood isolates. The PCR products were digested with restriction enzymes and terminal-restriction fragment profile analysis performed. RESULTS T-RFLP analysis correctly identified the Lactobacillus species in each case. T-RFLP analysis could be completed within 8 hours of obtaining a positive blood culture as compared to more than the 24 to 48 hours required for traditional culturing and biochemical characterizations. CONCLUSION T-RFLP analysis allows for rapid identification of Lactobacillus directly from positive blood cultures and circumvents the requirement for subculture. Reduced diagnostic time has implications for duration of infection, the cost of patient care, length of hospitalization, development of broad-spectrum antibiotic resistance, and mortality due to bacteremia. T-RFLP profiling represents a highly reproducible and predictive source for identification of many organisms associated with bacteremia.
Social theory, documentary film and distant others

Framed by the ethical considerations of Martha Nussbaum on `the lives of distant others' and Zygmunt Bauman on `being-for' the Other, this article critically analyses Australian director Denis O'Rourke's `documentary fiction film' The Good Woman of Bangkok, the story of Aoi, a woman from a rural village in Udon in the northeast of Thailand who works in the Bangkok sex trade. The analysis attempts to give specificity and critical precision to what is too often a more intuitive and generalized critique of the contribution of current affairs programmes to the quality of understanding in the public sphere. The article combines textual analysis and social theory — two forms of analysis too often kept apart — to analyse the relationship between the text of the documentary per se and the conceptualization of social reality within that text. I argue that The Good Woman of Bangkok contains two tales or narratives, a simple one with a simple moral, and a more sophisticated, subversive one that is more attuned — albeit imperfectly — to the requirements of a mature public sphere. The more subversive thread undermines the simple tale by disrupting our belief in the overly naïve picture of social reality that the latter depends upon. The article incorporates an argument for more dialogue between social theorists and documentary film makers.
UMQL: A Unified Multimedia Query Language

We propose a unified multimedia query language called UMQL, based on a semi-structured data model. In contrast to previous multimedia query languages that are either designed only for one particular medium or not powerful enough on multimedia query ability, UMQL is a general and powerful multimedia language which can support effectively queries based on content, structure, spatial relationships and temporal relationships of multimedia data, and finally has been shown to be very expressive and quite suitable for multimedia information retrieval.
Association between plasminogen activator inhibitor‐1 and severity of liver injury and cardiovascular risk in children with non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease

Plasminogen activator inhibitor‐1 (PAI‐1) is the primary inhibitor of the endogenous fibrinolytic system and is known to be increased in obesity, insulin resistance and non‐alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). We previously demonstrated that PAI‐1 levels were closely related to the amount of hepatic steatosis in children.
Active Semi-supervised Approach for Checking App Behavior against Its Description

Mobile applications are popular in recent years. They are often allowed to access and modify users' sensitive data. However, many mobile applications are malwares that inappropriately use these sensitive data. To detect these malwares, Gorla et al. Propose CHABADA which compares app behaviors against its descriptions. Data about known malwares are not used in their work, which limits its effectiveness. In this work, we extend the work by Gorla et al. By proposing an active and semi-supervised approach for detecting malwares. Different from CHABADA, our approach will make use of both known benign and malicious apps to predict other malicious apps. Also, our approach will select a good set of apps for experts to label as malicious or benign to form a set of labeled training data -- it is an active approach. Furthermore, it will make use of both labeled data (known malicious or benign apps) and unlabeled data (unknown apps) -- it is a semi-supervised approach. We have evaluated our approach by using a set of 22,555 Android apps. Our approach achieves a good performance in detecting malicious apps with a precision of 99.82%, recall of 92.50%, and F-measure of 96.02%. Our approach improves CHABADA by 365.8%, 64.8%, 209.6% in terms of precision, recall, and F-measure.
An enzyme‐based in situ hybridisation method for the identification of Streptococcus suis Note

A method for enzyme‐based in situ hybridisation of Streptococcus suis was developed. It enables the light microscopic localization of bacterial ribosomal RNA (rRNA) in formalin‐fixed paraffin‐embedded tissues. A unique sequence in the 16S rRNA of S. suis was targeted. Different pretreatment protocols were applied to facilitate probe penetration and multiple detection systems were tested. The results were compared to those obtained by immunohistochemistry. Pretreatment was necessary to obtain a signal by in situ hybridisation. The use of proteinase‐K pretreatment was optimal regarding sensitivity and preservation of tissue morphology. A strong specific in situ hybridisation signal was achieved in tissue sections containing S. suis in microcolonies and the microanatomy of the surrounding tissue was easily assessed. However, the signal distribution differed from that found immunohistochemically and low‐grade infection could not be detected by in situ hybridisation. These findings were interpreted as reflecting the physiological state of the bacteria. Thus, this method could prove useful in future studies of the infection pathogenesis.
Test of a Trust and Confidence Model in the Applied Context of Electromagnetic Field (EMF) Risks

Trust is an important factor in risk management. There is little agreement among researchers, however, on how trust in risk management should be studied. Based on a comprehensive review of the trust literature a “dual‐mode model of social trust and confidence” is proposed. Trust and confidence are separate but, under some circumstances, interacting sources of cooperation. Trust is based on value similarity, and confidence is based on performance. According to our model, judging similarity between an observer's currently active values and the values attributed to others determines social trust. Thus, the basis for trust is a judgment that the person to be trusted would act as the trusting person would. Interpretation of the other's performance influences confidence. Both social trust and confidence have an impact on people's willingness to cooperate (e.g., accept electromagnetic fields or EMF in the neighborhood). The postulated model was tested in the applied context of EMF risks. Structural equation modeling procedures and data from a random sample of 1,313 Swiss citizens between 18 and 74 years old were used. Results indicated that after minor modifications the model explained the data very well. In the applied context of EMF risks, both trust and confidence had an impact on cooperation. Results suggest that the dual‐mode model of social trust and confidence could be used as a common framework in the field of trust and risk management. Practical implications of the results are discussed.
Designing Slow Fun! Physical Therapy Games to Remedy the Negative Consequences of Spasticity

is a motor disorder defined by involuntary muscle contractions, resulting in uncoordinated gait, stiff body posture and shortening of range of limb movement. The first line treatment of spasticity is physical and occupational therapy, involving physical exercises that focus on stretching and strengthening of muscles. In this paper, we report on the difficulty of designing fun games that build upon these physical exercises and remedy the negative consequences of spasticity. As spasticity is velocity dependent, we especially emphasize the need to design for 'slow fun' and demonstrate how this can be done.
Systematic data integration platform for functional glycomics

Glycomics is a discipline of biology that deals with the structure and function of glycans (or carbohydrates). Analytical techniques such as mass spectrometry (MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) are having a significant impact on the field of glycomics. However, effective progress in glycomics research requires collaboration between laboratories to share experimental data, structural information of glycans, and simulation results. Herein we report the development of a web-based data management system that can incorporate large volumes of data from disparate sources and organize them into a uniform format for users to store and access. This system enables participating laboratories to set up a shared data repository which members of interdisciplinary teams can access. The system is able to manage and share raw MS data and structural information of glycans. The web-based interface will be available at http://www.glycomics. bcf.ku. edu/ (public release projected for xx/xx/2010).
The quality of life and psychiatric morbidity in patients operated for Arnold–Chiari malformation type I

Abstract Background. There are some case reports that highlight the association of Arnold–Chiari malformation (ACM) with psychiatric symptoms. We assessed the association between ACM and psychiatric symptoms and risk factors in terms of psychiatric morbidity and evaluated the quality of life after surgery. Methods. This study consisted of sixteen patients who underwent decompression operation at the Department of Neurosurgery of Sisli Etfal Hospital. The MINI plus, Short-Form McGill Pain Questionnaire and WHOQOL-BREF-TR were administered to patients. Results. About 43.8% of the patients had a psychiatric disorder. About 50% of the patients had co-existing syringomyelia of which 50% with syringomyelia had a psychiatric disorder. Patients with syringomyelia without any psychiatric disorder had significantly lower scores on physical domain of WHOQOL-BREF-TR (p = 0.02) than the patients without syringomyelia and psychiatric disorder. Subjects with a psychiatric disorder had lower scores on four domains of WHOQOL-BREF-TR. The patients with psychiatric diagnoses had significantly higher scores on affective pain index (p = 0.021) and total pain index (p = 0.037) than the patients without any psychiatric disorder. Conclusion. The presence of a psychiatric condition influences not only the physical aspect but also deteriorates the psychological and social relations and environmental aspect. Moreover the presence of a psychiatric disorder increases the perception of pain and causes more discomfort.
A Framework for Exploring Multidimensional Data with 3D Projections

Visualization of high‐dimensional data requires a mapping to a visual space. Whenever the goal is to preserve similarity relations a frequent strategy is to use 2D projections, which afford intuitive interactive exploration, e.g., by users locating and selecting groups and gradually drilling down to individual objects. In this paper, we propose a framework for projecting high‐dimensional data to 3D visual spaces, based on a generalization of the Least‐Square Projection (LSP). We compare projections to 2D and 3D visual spaces both quantitatively and through a user study considering certain exploration tasks. The quantitative analysis confirms that 3D projections outperform 2D projections in terms of precision. The user study indicates that certain tasks can be more reliably and confidently answered with 3D projections. Nonetheless, as 3D projections are displayed on 2D screens, interaction is more difficult. Therefore, we incorporate suitable interaction functionalities into a framework that supports 3D transformations, predefined optimal 2D views, coordinated 2D and 3D views, and hierarchical 3D cluster definition and exploration. For visually encoding data clusters in a 3D setup, we employ color coding of projected data points as well as four types of surface renderings. A second user study evaluates the suitability of these visual encodings. Several examples illustrate the framework's applicability for both visual exploration of multidimensional abstract (non‐spatial) data as well as the feature space of multi‐variate spatial data.
Fundus image vessel segmentation using PCNN model

Retinal vessel is major role of nourishing the retina. The earlier retinal analyses help in diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy and major cardiovascular diseases. There are several algorithms are proposed in recent literature for segmentation of retinal vessel. Here we are proposing Pulse Coupled Neural Network (PCNN) where utilizing all advantages of unsupervised methods. PCNN is a single layered neural network. While not considering the no.of parameters of PCNN it gives better result. The images are taken from DRIVE database.
Development on indicating system of information of deceleration intention to following vehicle - Suggestion and fundamental experiment -

Recently, there are many researches for a system which aimed at reducing of the risk on a rear-end collision such as a pre-crash braking system. We have been considering a system to reduce of the risk on a rear-end collision by system be installed on rear window of preceding vehicle. This paper suggests a system indicating the shift to a braking state of preceding vehicle to following vehicle in advance. The indicating information is output by auxiliary stop lamp. It was named “information of deceleration intention”. Firstly, we measured the operation situation and state of accelerator / brake pedal in real traffic environment in order to decide the specifications of indicating method. These measurement results were shown that indicating method had a relationship of the trade-off between reliability of the information and degree of safety benefit. Indicating method was set to trigger the Cover BP (Cover Brake Pedal: the presence or absence of foot on a brake pedal) for the highest reliability. It indicates the information at Cover BP ON. Second, The system was constructed an indicating system using auxiliary stop lamp on an experiment vehicle. This paper showed a fundamental experiment to measure driver behavior at using system. From results, it understood that “deceleration” was suppressed at using system. We guessed that the slowdown behavior of following vehicle was hasty. In future, it will clarify about driver behavior in detail, psychological impression of driver, and the influence on traffic flow by increasing the number of subjects.
Formation of Students' Intercultural Communicative Competence in Business Communication

2 Abstract: The purpose of an article under analysis is to highlight the topical issue of many sciences of the 21 century, the intercultural communication competence. This study investigates the nature of intercultural st communication competence, makes distinction between communication competence and intercultural competence and emphasizes the main components of intercultural communication competence, formation of that competence in business communication, especially business correspondence. In the theoretical approach, this paper discusses the necessity and benefits to study theory and practice of business communication, analyses what makes intercultural communication competence special and distinctive features of each competence. As an experimental approach we suggest the ways to form intercultural communication competence of students on written type of business communication at universities. On the basis of the results of the study, components, measures of effective intercultural communication competence are presented. And also the intercultural and linguistic problems are given to be solved to be intercultural communicatively competent in Business communication.
Distribution of inter-node distances in digital trees

We investigate distances between pairs of nodes in digital trees (digital search trees (DST), and tries). By analytic techniques, such as the Mellin Transform and poissonization, we describe a program to determine the moments of these distances. The program is illustrated on the mean and variance. One encounters delayed Mellin transform equations, which we solve by inspection. Interestingly, the unbiased case gives a bounded variance, whereas the biased case gives a variance growing with the number of keys. It is therefore possible in the biased case to show that an appropriately normalized version of the distance converges to a limit. The complexity of moment calculation increases substantially with each higher moment; A shortcut to the limit is needed via a method that avoids the computation of all moments. Toward this end, we utilize the contraction method to show that in biased digital search trees the distribution of a suitably normalized version of the distances approaches a limit that is the fixed-point solution (in the Wasserstein space) of a distributional equation. An explicit solution to the fixed-point equation is readily demonstrated to be Gaussian.
Chromosomal abnormalities and hormonal disorders of primary amenorrhea patients in Egypt

BACKGROUND: Primary amenorrhea is defined as the absence of menstruation and secondary sexual characteristics in phenotypic women aged 14 years or older. Hormonal disorders are main causes of primary amenorrhea. Common hormonal cause of primary amenorrhea includes pituitary dysfunction and absent ovarian function. The aim of this study was to estimate the incidence and types of chromosomal abnormalities in patients with primary amenorrhea in Egypt. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Chromosomal analysis and hormonal assay were carried out on 223 patients with primary amenorrhea that were referred from different parts of Egypt to Cytogenetic laboratory of Genetic Unit, Children Hospital Mansoura University, from July 2008 to December 2010. FISH technique was carried out in some of cases to more evaluation. RESULTS: The frequency of chromosomal abnormalities was 46 (20.63%) in primary amenorrhea patients. The chromosomal abnormalities can be classified into four main types. (1) The numerical abnormalities of the X chromosome were detected in 23 (50 %). (2) Structural abnormalities of the X chromosome were detected in 11 (23.91%). (3) Mosaicism of X chromosome was found in 10 (21.74%). (4) Male karyotype 46, XY was presented in 2 (4.35%). CONCLUSION: The present study showed that karyotype and FISH are necessary to detect the causes of primary amenorrhea. This study also revealed the incidence of chromosomal abnormalities in women with primary amenorrhea in Egypt is similar to that reported in previous literatures.
AlphaB-crystallin in lens development and muscle integrity: a gene knockout approach.

PURPOSE To study the role of alphaB-crystallin (alphaB) in the developing lens and its importance in lens structure and function. METHODS Gene targeting in embryonic stem cells was used to generate mouse lines in which the alphaB gene and its protein product were absent. Gene structure and expression were characterized by genomic Southern blot, immunoblot, and Northern blot analyses, and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. The gene knockout mice were screened for cataract with slit lamp biomicroscopy, and dissected lenses were examined with dark-field microscopy. Lenses and other tissues were analyzed by standard histology and immunohistochemistry. Chaperone activity was determined by heating lens homogenate supernatants and measuring absorbance changes. RESULTS In an unexpected result, lenses in the alphaB gene knockout mice developed normally and were remarkably similar to wild-type mouse lenses. All the other crystallins were present. The thermal stability of a lens homogenate supernatant was mildly compromised, and when oxidatively stressed in vivo with hyperbaric oxygen, the knockout lenses reacted similarly to wild type. In targeting the alphaB gene, the adjacent HSPB2 gene, which is not expressed in the lens, was also disrupted. Loss of alphaB and/or HSPB2 function leads to degeneration of some skeletal muscles. CONCLUSIONS AlphaB is not essential for normal development of a transparent lens in the mouse, and therefore is more dispensable to the lens than the closely related alphaA-crystallin. It may play a small role in maintaining transparency throughout life. alphaB and/or the closely related HSPB2 is required to maintain muscle cell integrity in some skeletal muscles.