Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Technological Device for Manufacturing Transdermal Films: Possible Applications to the Individualized Treatment for Erectile Dysfunction

Pharmacological advances in erectile dysfunction (ED) treatment have aroused growing interest among health professionals towards sexual dysfunction, generating an increasing demand for dosage forms and drug delivery systems, including tadalafil. This study aimed to develop a device to generate patches that would enable drug dosage individualization and transdermal administration. To create such a mechanical device, technical drawings were made using the CAD software. A functional prototype was built, and a pharmaceutical formulation containing tadalafil (10 mg cm−2) was prepared. An analytical method (HPLC) was developed and validated. The average weight of adhesives (n = 10) was 241.01 mg; the content uniformity for preparations in unit doses (n = 10) was 108.93%, and a CV <2% for intraadhesive tadalafil content (n = 40) was observed. The ex vivo permeation of patches containing tadalafil was determined in Franz cells (n = 6), equipped with human skin and kept for 12 h in contact with the patch, by using the tape stripping method. The optimized method showed acceptable confidence limits within the range recommended by regulatory agencies, being validated for use in this ex vivo permeation study. Tadalafil could permeate to the viable epidermis and dermis (5.7%). The created device produced homogeneous patches of tadalafil, showing such technological innovation as to be feasible in individualized therapy for the treatment of ED.
Apparent motion clustering on Cone-Beam fluoroscopic images for thorax tracking

For lung cancer treatment with gated radiotherapy, tracking apparent respiratory motion in fluoroscopic images is an important step. The purpose of this study is to determine regions in the lung where the extracted apparent motion is homogeneous and reliable. Using an adapted block-matching algorithm on fluoroscopic sequences, we extracted individual point trajectories in region of interest corresponding to the lung and classified them using the k-means++ clustering algorithm. We then studied the apparent motion separately in each determined region. As a result, we obtained regions with homogeneous motion. Finally, we showed that regions in the lower part of the lung may be homogeneously correlated with an external signal acquired with an abdominal surrogate. This could be used in future work to estimate the parameters of a patient motion model obtained with the planning 4DCT.
Common genes underlying asthma and COPD? Genome-wide analysis on the Dutch hypothesis

Asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are thought to share a genetic background (“Dutch hypothesis”). We investigated whether asthma and COPD have common underlying genetic factors, performing genome-wide association studies for both asthma and COPD and combining the results in meta-analyses. Three loci showed potential involvement in both diseases: chr2p24.3, chr5q23.1 and chr13q14.2, containing DDX1, COMMD10 (both participating in the nuclear factor (NF) &kgr;&bgr; pathway) and GNG5P5, respectively. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) rs9534578 in GNG5P5 reached genome-wide significance after first replication phase (p=9.96×10−9). The second replication phase, in seven independent cohorts, provided no significant replication. Expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) analysis in blood cells and lung tissue on the top 20 associated SNPs identified two SNPs in COMMD10 that influenced gene expression. Inflammatory processes differ in asthma and COPD and are mediated by NF-&kgr;&bgr;, which could be driven by the same underlying genes, COMMD10 and DDX1. None of the SNPs reached genome-wide significance. Our eQTL studies support a functional role for two COMMD10 SNPs, since they influence gene expression in both blood cells and lung tissue. Our findings suggest that there is either no common genetic component in asthma and COPD or, alternatively, different environmental factors, e.g. lifestyle and occupation in different countries and continents, which may have obscured the genetic common contribution. This article provides suggestive evidence, but not firm evidence that there is overlap in genetics of asthma and COPD http://ow.ly/we9yE
TMEDS : Twitter based Minor Event Detecting System ( Invited Paper )

Finding events from Twitter data is an important research issue in data mining. The current event detection algorithms focus on finding all major events happening within a particular time frame. One cannot ignore the knowledge pertaining to minor events. The reason is that minor events, such as land slides and nuclear leaks, can provide useful and valuable information to the users in real-world applications. Discovering minor events are challenging due to the noisy nature of Twitter. To handle noisy data, researchers have focused on finding minor events for a specific topic, say land slides [1]. As a result, these approaches lack the generalization of discovering several events happening together at a particular time frame. We have been investigating the behavior of major and minor events in Twitter for the past two years. As hashtags provide useful information about an event, we have analyzed hashtags with respect to their frequency and temporal appearances. In our investigation, we have observed that when an event happens, hashtags of the corresponding event exhibit periodic behavior within the event’s time frame. Based on this observation, we introduce a generic Twitter based Minor Event Detection System (TMEDS) that tries to discover several events happening together at a particular time frame.
Psychophysiological traits of men with several genotypes in polymorphic locus Val158Met COMT and different levels of aggressiveness

Background. The catechol-O-methyl transferase gene influences the reuptake of monoamines (dopamine, serotonin, noradrenaline) from the synaptic space. The structural peculiarities of this gene are linked with the duration of stay of neurotransmitters in the synaptic gap and the emergence and duration of emotional reactions, which may considerably affect a person’s level of aggressiveness; these peculiarities may manifest as psychophysiological characteristics. Objective and design. This study investigated the amplitude, spatio-temporal traits and sources of evoked brain activity in men with several genotypes in the polymorphic locus Val158Met in the COMT (Catechol-O-methyl transferase) gene, levels of aggressiveness using the Buss-Darkee inventory, proneness to various types of deviant and addictive behaviors in accordance with the methods of A.N. Oryol and the preferred strategies of behavior during conflict in accordance with the methods of Kenneth Thomas. Statistical processing of psychodiagnostic data included dispersive (ANOVA) and discriminative analyses. Results. This study found significant differences in the parameters of evoked brain activity components in responses to emotionally charged stimuli (“aggression”, “positive”, “tolerance”, “extremism, terrorism”) compared with neutral images. Student’s t-test (Holms-corrected for multiple comparisons) was used to analyze the EEG-VEP data. Conclusion. This study confirmed the hypothesis of differences in spatio-temporal and amplitude parameters of evoked brain potentials in young men exhibiting differing levels of aggressiveness. The sources of evoked brain activity determined using sLORETA (Standardized Low-resolution Brain Electromagnetic Tomography) were different between carriers of different genotypes.
Over 100-Gb/s V-Band Single-Carrier PDM-64QAM Fiber-Wireless-Integration System

We experimentally demonstrate an ultra-large-capacity, high-spectral-efficiency fiber-wireless-integration system within the V-band (50-75 GHz), employing single-carrier polarization-division-multiplexing 64-ary quadrature-amplitude-modulation (PDM-64QAM) modulation and heterodyne coherent detection. In our demonstrated system, up to a 10Gbaud (120-Gb/s) PDM-64QAM vector millimeter (mm)-wave signal at 57.2 GHz can be generated with a bit-error ratio (BER) less than the hard-decision forward-error-correction (FEC) threshold of 3.8 × 10-3, while an up to 20-Gbaud (240-Gb/s) PDM-64QAM vector mm-wave signal at 57.2 GHz can be generated with the BER less than the soft-decision forward-error-correction (SD-FEC) threshold of 2 ×10-2. In our demonstrated system, a 10-Gbaud (120-Gb/s) 57.2-GHz PDM-64QAM vector mm-wave signal can also be delivered over a 60-km single-mode fiber-28 (SMF-28) and an 1-m wireless distance with a BER less than the SD-FEC threshold. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time that an over 100-Gb/s single-carrier wireless mm-wave signal delivery at V-band has been realized.
Genetic Basis and Carrier Detection of Hemophilia B of Chinese Origin

Summary We have characterized the genetic defects of 17 hemophilia B patients of Chinese origin by means of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and direct sequencing. The single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) was used as an initial screening method to analyze the entire coding region and the flanking introns of each individual’s factor IX gene. The abnormal exons were subsequently amplified and the nucleotide sequence determined. Of the 17 patients studied, 16 had single point mutations and one had a gross gene deletion of exons VII and VIII of factor IX. Among these 16 factor IX variants with point mutations 13 were missense and two were nonsense mutations. The remaining one had a nucleotide deleted, resulting in frame shifting at amino acid residue 97. A total of ten novel mutations, including the one with gross gene deletion, are reported in this study which have not been described previously. Five of the remaining seven variants were missense mutations with novel amino acids substituted for residues 127, 132, 180, 207, and 215, respectively. Mutations containing different amino acid residues at those positions have been reported. The last two are variants that have already been described to contain mutations at amino acid residues 333 and 365, respectively. To evaluate the efficiency of SSCP analysis in assessing the mutated exons and to further confirm our results we sequenced the entire exons of all 17 factor IX genes. The mutations detected by SSCP method were indeed the only mutation identified in each factor IX variant. The SSCP analysis and direct sequencing have also allowed us to circumvent the difficulties of carrier determination for Chinese by direct detection of the abnormal factor IX alleles inherited by the females.
eq 5 dmap : a command for mapping from 3-level to 5-level EQ-5 D

This article describes a new Stata command, eq5dmap, for conditional prediction of the utility values of the newer 5-level version of EQ-5D from observed or specified values of 3-level EQ-5D conditional on age and gender. Predictions can be made either from the 5-item EQ-5D-3L health description, or from the (exact or approximate) utility score. The prediction process is based on a joint statistical model of the two variants of EQ-5D which have been fitted to alternative reference datasets. The underlying model is a system of ordinal regressions with a flexible residual distribution specified as Gaussian or as a copula-mixture. Use of the command is illustrated with an application which includes an investigation of the sensitivity of the mapping outcomes to the choice of reference dataset.
A method for coregistration of PET and MR brain images.

UNLABELLED Combining MRI morphological data with functional PET data offers significant advantages in research as well as in many clinical situations. Automatic methods are needed, however, to coregister the data from the two modalities. METHODS Simulated PET images were created by simple and automatic segmentation of MR images followed by the assignment of different uptake values to various tissue types. The simulated PET images were registered to actual PET images using a pixel-by-pixel, PET-PET registration method. The transformation matrix was then applied to the MR images. The method was used to register MRI data to PET transmission scans and emission scans obtained with FDG, nomifensine and raclopride. Validation was performed by comparing the results to those obtained by matching internal points manually defined in both volumes. RESULTS Emission and transmission PET images were successfully registered to MR data. Comparison to the manual method indicated a registration accuracy on the order of 1-2 mm in each direction. No difference in accuracy between the different tracers was found. The error sensitivity for the method's assumptions seemed to be sufficiently low to allow complete automation of the method. CONCLUSION We present a rapid, robust and fully automated method to register PET and MR brain images with sufficient accuracy for most clinical applications.
Multifocus Image Fusion Based on NSCT and Focused Area Detection

To overcome the difficulties of sub-band coefficients selection in multiscale transform domain-based image fusion and solve the problem of block effects suffered by spatial domain-based image fusion, this paper presents a novel hybrid multifocus image fusion method. First, the source multifocus images are decomposed using the nonsubsampled contourlet transform (NSCT). The low-frequency sub-band coefficients are fused by the sum-modified-Laplacian-based local visual contrast, whereas the high-frequency sub-band coefficients are fused by the local Log-Gabor energy. The initial fused image is subsequently reconstructed based on the inverse NSCT with the fused coefficients. Second, after analyzing the similarity between the previous fused image and the source images, the initial focus area detection map is obtained, which is used for achieving the decision map obtained by employing a mathematical morphology postprocessing technique. Finally, based on the decision map, the final fused image is obtained by selecting the pixels in the focus areas and retaining the pixels in the focus region boundary as their corresponding pixels in the initial fused image. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method is better than various existing transform-based fusion methods, including gradient pyramid transform, discrete wavelet transform, NSCT, and a spatial-based method, in terms of both subjective and objective evaluations.
Impaired inflammatory and pain responses in mice lacking an inducible prostaglandin E synthase

Prostaglandin (PG)E2 is a potent mediator of pain and inflammation, and high levels of this lipid mediator are observed in numerous disease states. The inhibition of PGE2 production to control pain and to treat diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis to date has depended on nonsteroidal antiinflammatory agents such as aspirin. However, these agents inhibit the synthesis of all prostanoids. To produce biologically active PGE2, PGE synthases catalyze the isomerization of PGH2 into PGE2. Recently, several PGE synthases have been identified and cloned, but their role in inflammation is not clear. To study the physiological role of the individual PGE synthases, we have generated by targeted homologous recombination a mouse line deficient in microsomal PGE synthase 1 (mPGES1) on the inbred DBA/1lacJ background. mPGES1-deficient (mPGES1-/-) mice are viable and fertile and develop normally compared with wild-type controls. However, mPGES1-/- mice displayed a marked reduction in inflammatory responses compared with mPGES1+/+ mice in multiple assays. Here, we identify mPGES1 as the PGE synthase that contributes to the pathogenesis of collagen-induced arthritis, a disease model of human rheumatoid arthritis. We also show that mPGES1 is responsible for the production of PGE2 that mediates acute pain during an inflammatory response. These findings suggest that mPGES1 provides a target for the treatment of inflammatory diseases and pain associated with inflammatory states.
Hard choices: Children's understanding of the cost of action selection

When predicting or explaining another person’s actions, we often appeal to the physical effort they require; a person who works hard for something, for instance, must really like it (Liu, Ullman, Tenenbaum, & Spelke, 2017). But people are not only motivated to avoid physical effort; they also seek to avoid mental effort (Shenhav et al., 2017; Kool & Botvinick, 2018). Here, we ask whether mental effort enters into preschoolers’ understanding of other people’s actions. Across 4 experiments (N=112), we presented 4and 5-year-old children with an agent (naive in Exp 1, 2 and 4, and knowledgeable in Exp 3) who can either move through a simple or complex maze environment with a specific goal (in Exp 1-3, to reach a play structure beyond the mazes, and in Exp 4, to practice solving the mazes). We found that children were sensitive to the physical and mental effort associated with more complex mazes, and to the trade-offs between effort and gain in skill. The intuition that choices impose costs on our bodies and minds appears to guide children’s understanding of other people.
The study on the effect of load mass on the movement of the cross-scale stage based on the stick-slip driving

In this paper, the relationship of the movement of stick-slip driving and the load mass was studied. Firstly, the research status and the principle of stick-slip driving was introduced. Secondly, the dynamic model of stick-slip driving was built. By using dynamic models, the relationship curve of the every step displacement and the load mass was received through the simulation in Matlab software. Furthermore, in corroboration of the dynamic model, the prototype was designed and the experiment system was built. From the testing of stick-slip prototype, the step displacement in every load mass was tested 10 times and the relationship curve of the average every step displacement and load mass was obtained. The simulation results are validated by the testing results and the method of increasing the load mass to adjust the stick-slip driving step displacement and velocity were proved. In the future, the relationship of the movement speed and the driving frequency should be researched for improving the movement performance of the stick-slip driving.
NUMERICAL SIMULATIONS OF FLOW THROUGH AN S-DUCT

Diffusing S-Ducts are critical components in certain military and civilian aircraft, primarily employed in directing airflow to the engine. Air flow through an S-Duct is complex in nature, and can include boundary layer separation, secondary flow, and total pressure loss effects that often impact engine performance. Thus, it is very important to accurately capture these effects in CFD simulations through a computational grid of appropriate resolution. This paper describes how ANSA, BETA CAE Systems’ pre-processing software, was used to generate high fidelity grids for an S-Duct model that was featured at the 1st Propulsion Aerodynamics Workshop (PAW). This paper also presents numerical simulation results of flow through the S-Duct. Metacomp Technologies’ CFD solver, CFD++, was used for numerical simulations and BETA CAE Systems’ software, μETA, was used for post-processing.
Effects on quality of life with comprehensive rehabilitation after acute myocardial infarction.

This investigation was designed to determine the impact of a brief period of cardiac rehabilitation, initiated within 6 weeks of acute myocardial infarction (AMI), on both disease-specific and generic health-related quality of life, exercise tolerance and return to work after AMI. With a stratified, parallel group design, 201 low-risk patients with evidence of depression or anxiety, or both, after AMI, were randomized to either an 8-week program of exercise conditioning and behavioral counseling or to conventional care. Although the differences were small, significantly greater improvement was seen in rehabilitation group patients at 8 weeks in the emotions dimension of a new disease-specific, health-related Quality of Life Questionnaire, in their state of anxiety and in exercise tolerance. All measures of health-related quality of life in both groups improved significantly over the 12-month follow-up period. However, the 95% confidence intervals around differences between groups at the 12-month follow-up effectively excluded sustained, clinically important benefits of rehabilitation in disease-specific (limitations, -2.70, 1.40; emotions, -4.86, 1.10, where negative values favor conventional care and positive values favor rehabilitation) and generic health-related quality of life (time trade-off, -0.062, 0.052; quality of well-being, -0.042, 0.035) or in exercise tolerance (-38.5, 52.1 kpm/min); also, return to work was similar in the 2 groups (relative risk, 0.93; confidence interval, 0.71, 1.64). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Race and Surgical Mortality in the United States

Objective:This study describes racial differences in postoperative mortality following 8 cardiovascular and cancer procedures and assesses possible explanations for these differences. Summary Background Data:Although racial disparities in the use of surgical procedures are well established, relationships between race and operative mortality have not been assessed systematically. Methods:We used national Medicare data to identify all patients undergoing one of 8 cardiovascular and cancer procedures between 1994 and 1999. We used multiple logistic regression to assess differences in operative mortality (death within 30 days or before discharge) between black patients and white patients, controlling for patient characteristics. Adding hospital indicators to these models, we then assessed the extent to which racial differences in operative mortality could be accounted for by the hospital in which patients were cared for. Results:Black patients had higher crude mortality rates than white patients for 7 of the 8 operations, including coronary artery bypass, aortic valve replacement, abdominal aortic aneurysm repair, carotid endarterectomy, radical cystectomy, pancreatic resection, and esophagectomy. Among these 7 procedures, odds ratios of mortality (black versus white) ranged from 1.23 (95% confidence interval, 1.18–1.29) for CABG to 1.61 (95% confidence interval, 1.28–2.03) for esophagectomy. Adjusting for patient characteristics had modest or no effect on odds ratios of mortality by race. However, there remained few clinically or statistically significant differences in mortality by race after we accounted for hospital. Hospitals that treated a large proportion of black patients had higher mortality rates for all 8 procedures, for white as well as black patients. Conclusions:Black patients have higher operative mortality risks across a wide range of surgical procedures, in large part because of higher mortality rates at the hospitals they attend.