Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Directional asymmetry in the limbs, skull and pelvis of the silver fox (V. vulpes)

Directional asymmetry (DA) is a characteristic of most vertebrates, most strikingly exhibited by the placement of various organs (heart, lungs, liver, etc.) but also noted in small differences in the metrics of skeletal structures such as the pelvis of certain fish or sauropsids. We have analyzed DA in the skeleton of the fox (V. vulpes), using ∼1,000 radiographs of foxes from populations used in the genetic analysis of behavior and morphology. Careful measurements from this robust data base demonstrate that: 1) DA occurs in the limb bones, the ileum, and ischium and in the mandible; 2) regardless of the direction of the length asymmetry vector of a particular skeletal unit, the vectorial direction of length is always opposite to that of width; 3) with the exception of the humerus and radius, there is no correlation or inverse correlation between vectorial amplitudes or magnitudes of bone asymmetries. 4) Postnatal measurements on foxes demonstrate that the asymmetry increases after birth and continues to change (increasing or decreasing) during postnatal growth. 5) A behavior test for preferential use of a specific forelimb exhibited fluctuating asymmetry but not DA. None of the skeletal asymmetries were significantly correlated with a preferential use of a specific forelimb. We suggest that for the majority of fox skeletal parameters, growth on the right and left side of the fox are differentially biased resulting in fixed differences between the two sides in either the rate of growth or the length of the period during which growth occurs. Random effects around these fixed differences perturb the magnitude of the effects such that the magnitudes of length and width asymmetries are not inversely correlated at the level of individual animals. J. Morphol. , 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Management of Chronic Pain of Cervical Disc Herniation and Radiculitis with Fluoroscopic Cervical Interlaminar Epidural Injections

Study Design: A randomized, double-blind, active controlled trial. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of cervical interlaminar epidural injections of local anesthetic with or without steroids in the management of chronic neck pain and upper extremity pain in patients with disc herniation and radiculitis. Summary of Background Data: Epidural injections in managing chronic neck and upper extremity pain are commonly employed interventions. However, their long-term effectiveness, indications, and medical necessity, of their use and their role in various pathologies responsible for persistent neck and upper extremity pain continue to be debated, even though, neck and upper extremity pain secondary to disc herniation and radiculitis, is described as the common indication. There is also paucity of high quality literature. Methods: One-hundred twenty patients were randomly assigned to one of 2 groups: Group I patients received cervical interlaminar epidural injections of local anesthetic (lidocaine 0.5%, 5 mL); Group II patients received 0.5% lidocaine, 4 mL, mixed with 1 mL of nonparticulate betamethasone. Primary outcome measure was ≥ 50 improvement in pain and function. Outcome assessments included Numeric Rating Scale (NRS), Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), opioid intake, employment, and changes in weight. Results: Significant pain relief and functional status improvement (≥ 50%) was demonstrated in 72% of patients who received local anesthetic only and 68% who received local anesthetic and steroids. In the successful group of participants, significant improvement was illustrated in 77% in local anesthetic group and 82% in local anesthetic with steroid group. Conclusions: Cervical interlaminar epidural injections with or without steroids may provide significant improvement in pain and function for patients with cervical disc herniation and radiculitis.
Measurement of thermally ablated lesions in sonoelastographic images using level set methods

The capability of sonoelastography to detect lesions based on elasticity contrast can be applied to monitor the creation of thermally ablated lesion. Currently, segmentation of lesions depicted in sonoelastographic images is performed manually which can be a time consuming process and prone to significant intra- and inter-observer variability. This work presents a semi-automated segmentation algorithm for sonoelastographic data. The user starts by planting a seed in the perceived center of the lesion. Fast marching methods use this information to create an initial estimate of the lesion. Subsequently, level set methods refine its final shape by attaching the segmented contour to edges in the image while maintaining smoothness. The algorithm is applied to in vivo sonoelastographic images from twenty five thermal ablated lesions created in porcine livers. The estimated area is compared to results from manual segmentation and gross pathology images. Results show that the algorithm outperforms manual segmentation in accuracy, inter- and intra-observer variability. The processing time per image is significantly reduced.
Dynamic Power Control for Maximizing System Throughput in Enterprise Femtocell Networks

Femtocells have been recently developed to increase the capacity and coverage of macrocells in cellular networks. With the deployment of a large number of femtocells in enterprise environment and the random plug-and-play pattern of femtocell base stations, it is a challenging issue to maximize the system throughput in a centralized manner. In this paper we propose a distributed Dynamic Power Control Algorithm (DPCA) for maximizing system throughput of enterprise femtocell networks. Our proposed algorithm dynamically adjusts the transmit power of femtocell base stations according to User Equipment (UE) measurement reports and other collected local information. We conduct simulation experiments based on the model with realistic broadband channel propagation conditions to validate the effectiveness of our algorithm. Numerical results demonstrate that our scheme can achieve up to 40% performance gain in terms of the system throughput in random topology, compared with the fixed power scheme.
Does Retirement Change Lifestyle Habits?

This paper studies the effect of retirement on lifestyle habits, including drinking, smoking, exercise, and sleeping, by using panel data from the Japanese Study of Aging and Retirement (JSTAR). Rich information in JSTAR enables us to use an interesting instrumental variable to account for endogeneity. We have three contributions in this paper. This is the first paper that focuses on and investigates the mechanism of the relation between retirement and health, namely, lifestyle habits. Second, new results show that people reduce drinking after retirement and increase sleeping time on weekdays although smoking, frequency of exercise, and sleeping time on holidays seem to be unchanged. Third, controlling important factors also allows us to inspect the detailed channels between retirement and lifestyle habits. Our estimation suggests that the peer effect in the workplace may be influential mainly on drinking habits.
Comparative Proteomic Analysis of Gallbladder Bile Proteins Related to Cholesterol Gallstones

Background Nucleation of cholesterol monohydrate crystals following the aggregation and fusion of cholesterol-enriched vesicles is a critical procedure in the formation of cholesterol gallstone. Biliary proteins play important roles in the process. It is inefficient to screen pro-nucleating or anti-nucleating proteins with routine physiochemical techniques, by which we discovered several pro-nucleating proteins. Methodology/Principal Findings Based on comparative proteomic technologies, we investigated the differentially expressed proteins between the cholesterol gallstone and control groups, and between the vesicular phase and micellar phase. There are 401±75 spots detected on the cholesterol gallstone group and 389±94 spots on the control group gels, 120±24 spots detected on vesicular phase and 198±37 on micellar phase gels, and accordingly 22 and 8 differentially expressed proteins were identified successfully, respectively. Three of them, HSA, Profilin and Retinol Binding Protein, were validated by Western blot. Conclusion/Significance Some of the identified proteins are in good agreement with proteins reported to be involved in the gallstone formation before. The information from this study might provide some important clues to uncover the key proteins involved in the formation of cholesterol gallstone.
Object localization in 2D images based on Kohonen's self-organization feature maps

This paper presents a hybrid approach for neural object localization and recognition in 2D grey level images. The system combines an auto-associative network, two self-organization feature maps (SOM), and a three layer feedforward network trained with dynamic learning vector quantization (DLVQ). By using a hidden layer smaller than the input/output layers, the auto-associative network can be expected to find efficient ways of encoding the information contained in the input data set. Thus a dimension reduction of the input image can be achieved. The object localization scheme is then directly based on features which are detected automatically using the Kohonen's SOMs. After preprocessing images are split into small blocks and input to two Kohonen maps. Through training, the first map can detect the object area of the input image, while the second map can detect the object specific features. By integrating the features extracted from the output of the two maps and the DLVQ methods, we can locate different objects and estimate object pose (translation, rotation within the image plane and scale parameter).
Maps of the Census : a rough guide

This Case Study describes the considerations that are needed to produce maps of data from the Census of Population. The ‘area value’ or choropleth map is the standard means of displaying such information on paper. It is a very imperfect visualisation device. First, it is necessary to be careful about the numbers that are mapped and, in particular, never to map absolute numbers. Second, choropleth maps are very sensitive to the mapping zones being used. To produce maps that do not distort the underlying distributions it is necessary to understand how the zones were defined and the effects of their varying sizes on the mapped pattern. Third, there are a series of strictly cartographic considerations related to how these maps are classed and the symbolism used. All of these issues are illustrated using data from the 1991 Population Census for Leicestershire, UK. These problems lead to a consideration of the need to develop new mapping tools. Dynamic maps can take advantage of an interactive software environment to overcome some of the limitations of the static map. The possibilities which they provide for interactive engagement with data make them appropriate tools for exploratory analysis, or visual thinking. A mapping tool is introduced, which exemplifies this form of map use and examples of the techniques that might be used to visualize the UK Census of Population are provided. An annotated bibliography is provided to refer map makers and users to relevant literature.
What is the closest blackhole to the sun ? I

We examine the question of the distance of the two galactic microquasars GRO J1655–40 and A 0620–00 which are potentially the two closest black-holes to the Sun. We aim at providing a picture as wide and complete as possible of the problem of measuring the distance of microquasars in our galaxy. The purpose of this work is to fairly yet critically review in great details every distance methods that have been used for these two microquasars in order to show that the distances of probably all microquasars in our galaxy are much more uncertain that currently admitted. Moreover, we show that many confirmations of a quantitative results are often entangled and rely themselves on very uncertain measurements. We also present a new determination of the maximal distance of GRO J1655–40 using red clump giant stars, and show that it confirms our earlier result of a distance lower than 2 kpc. Since it then becomes more likely that GRO J1655–40 could originate from the stellar cluster NGC 6242 located at 1.0 kpc instead of 3.2 kpc, we review the distance estimations of A 0620–00, which is so far the closest black-hole with an average distance of about 1.0 kpc. We show that the distance methods used for A 0620–00 are also problematic. Finally, we present a new analysis of spectroscopic and astrometric archival data on A 0620–00, and apply the maximum-distance method of Foellmi et al. (2006). It appears that A 0620–00 could indeed be even closer to the sun than currently estimated, and consequently be the closest known black-hole to the sun.
Research on Land-Use Type of Huainan City Based on Flood Risk Perception and Spatial Multi-Criteria Analysis

In traditional risk analysis approaches, emphasis is put on quantitative analysis of accident probability and consequences but no effective multiple analysis results are obtained with risk perception of the public taken into consideration. Usually, analysis results used by the governmental organizations for land planning in risk areas are the results base on the experts' quantitative analysis. The results contain many indexes that can not be accurately quantified. This paper presents a pragmatic approach for balancing quantified data and non-quantified data in land planning for risk areas. Theoretical framework of the approach incorporates quantitative analysis method, classification analysis approach for risk perception of the public, and spatial multi-criteria analysis structure system. This approach is eventually used for case analysis in the planning for land along the banks of the Huai River in Huainan city in the middle reaches of the Huai River in Anhui Province, China. This approach integrates risk perception of the public and its application on the basis of spatial multi-criteria analysis. In this paper, risk perception will be used as an important reference index of multi-criteria analysis to analyze the correlation between risks and benefits. Consequently, more effective land use planning would be provided with the index of risk perception of the public taken into consideration.
Mechanical Behaviour of Human Skin in Vivo

The mechanical properties of human skin are of great importance to predict skin doming in a shaver. Brokken [1] showed that among others the role of the different skin layers is important. The goal of this joint PhD-project by Eindhoven University of Technology and PCI is to determine the mechanical properties of different skin layers. Current knowledge suggests that this goal can be achieved by combining (existing) skin imaging methods with mechanical experiments. This literature review describes the available knowledge on the structure of the skin, some imaging methods that can be used to visualize the different skin layers, and a variety of mechanical experiments that have been performed on the skin. A detailed description is given of ultrasound (US), confocal microscopy (CM), optical coherence tomography (OCT) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), all applied to the skin. Some features of the overall mechanical behaviour of the skin and some skin components are described. An extended review is given on mechanical experiments applied to in vivo human skin (tensile tests, torsion tests, suction and indentation tests) and on mechanical experiments applied to the stratum corneum (both in vivo and in vitro). Conclusions: The structure of the skin is very complex. In this project 4 layers will be considered: the stratum corneum, the epidermis, the dermis (fibres and matrix) and the subcutaneous fat. A large variety of mechanical experiments have been performed on the skin in the past. However, in most cases little effort has been made to describe the observed material behaviour with appropriate constitutive models. In all but one publication (Diridollou et al. [2]) only superficial skin behaviour was measured. Usually, no difference is made in the contribution of the different layers, though it has been known for almost 3 decades that the c ©Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. 2001 iii 2001/820 Unclassified Report mechanical behaviour of the stratum corneum is strongly influenced by environmental conditions. The goal of the current project is to develop a numerical model that is capable to describe the non-linear and time-dependent behaviour of the skin, taking its stratified structure into account. To achieve this goal, a combination of mechanical experiments of different kinds (e.g. parallel and perpendicular to the skin surface) and on different length scales will be developed. Based on the results of numerical simulations of indentation and suction experiments on a 4 layer skin model, it is chosen to measure subsurface deformation during suction. Experiments will be performed for various aperture sizes to excite the different skin layers. Subsurface deformation will be measured with US, OCT and CM. iv c ©Koninklijke Philips Electronics N.V. 2001 Unclassified Report 2001/820
Authentication in ad-hoc and sensor networks

In der nahen Zukunft werden Ad-hoc- und Sensornetzwerke immer mehr Teil unseres Alltags werden. Sie konnten jedoch zur Gefahr werden, wenn Sicherheitsaspekte nicht von Anfang an beachtet werden. Die Authentifizierung ist dabei ein Kernaspekt fur sichere Protokolle und sichere Anwendungen. Daher wird die Authentifizierung in Ad-hoc-Netzen als ubergreifendes Thema dieser Arbeit behandelt. Die Sicherheitsprobleme von Ad-hoc- und Sensornetzwerken unterscheiden sich wesentlich von denen herkommlicher Netzwerke. Daher mussen entsprechende Protokolle entworfen werden. Diese Arbeit gibt zuerst einen Uberblick verschiedener Authentifizierungsmethoden und analysiert ihre Tauglichkeit fur Ad-hoc-Netzwerke. Daraufhin folgt eine Analyse uber die Eignung digitaler Signaturen. Zudem werden zwei neue extrem effiziente Protokolle fur eine gegenseitige Authentifizierung in solchen Netzwerken vorgestellt, und letztlich wird eine Anwendung der Authentifizierung, die Komponentenidentifikation, beschrieben.
Fundamental frequency estimation from the highest order coefficient of a polynomial

This paper presents a new method for the estimation of the fundamental frequency of a periodic signal. It uses the fact that several multitone frequency estimators end up finding the roots of a complex polynomial and that the highest order coefficient of this polynomial is the product of all the roots. The approach requiring complex data, it uses a DFT-based multitone frequency estimator and the resulting estimations have variance close to the Cramer-Rao Bound. A reduced-order version is also presented which can provide estimation that can be more accurate than the complete order method with a very low computational complexity.
Arthroscopic procedures for the treatment of anterior shoulder instability: local experiences.

OBJECTIVE To review the outcomes of arthroscopic stabilisation procedures for the treatment of recurrent anterior shoulder dislocation. DESIGN Retrospective study. SETTING Regional hospital, Hong Kong. PATIENTS Patients receiving arthroscopic stabilisation procedures for recurrent anterior shoulder dislocation between 1999 and 2003. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Functional outcomes including pain, range of motion, and activity level were assessed using the Constant score. Intra-operative findings were also discussed. RESULTS A total of 18 arthroscopic stabilisation procedures were performed for the treatment of recurrent shoulder instability. Two cases converted to open procedures were excluded from this review. The overall outcomes were good and seven patients reported a full recovery. Fourteen out of 16 patients reported minimal or no pain, and the mean Constant score was 80. There were no cases of re-dislocation and no major complication was noted. CONCLUSION All the reviewed patients had a satisfactory functional recovery. Therefore, we believe that the use of arthroscopic stabilisation procedure can produce a favourable outcome for appropriate shoulder pathologies.
Cationic Amino Acid Transporter-2 Regulates Immunity by Modulating Arginase Activity

Cationic amino acid transporters (CAT) are important regulators of NOS2 and ARG1 activity because they regulate L-arginine availability. However, their role in the development of Th1/Th2 effector functions following infection has not been investigated. Here we dissect the function of CAT2 by studying two infectious disease models characterized by the development of polarized Th1 or Th2-type responses. We show that CAT2−/− mice are significantly more susceptible to the Th1-inducing pathogen Toxoplasma gondii. Although T. gondii infected CAT2−/− mice developed stronger IFN-γ responses, nitric oxide (NO) production was significantly impaired, which contributed to their enhanced susceptibility. In contrast, CAT2−/− mice infected with the Th2-inducing pathogen Schistosoma mansoni displayed no change in susceptibility to infection, although they succumbed to schistosomiasis at an accelerated rate. Granuloma formation and fibrosis, pathological features regulated by Th2 cytokines, were also exacerbated even though their Th2 response was reduced. Finally, while IL-13 blockade was highly efficacious in wild-type mice, the development of fibrosis in CAT2−/− mice was largely IL-13-independent. Instead, the exacerbated pathology was associated with increased arginase activity in fibroblasts and alternatively activated macrophages, both in vitro and in vivo. Thus, by controlling NOS2 and arginase activity, CAT2 functions as a potent regulator of immunity.
Clustering of Gene Expression Data Based on Shape Similarity

A method for gene clustering from expression profiles using shape information is presented. The conventional clustering approaches such as K-means assume that genes with similar functions have similar expression levels and hence allocate genes with similar expression levels into the same cluster. However, genes with similar function often exhibit similarity in signal shape even though the expression magnitude can be far apart. Therefore, this investigation studies clustering according to signal shape similarity. This shape information is captured in the form of normalized and time-scaled forward first differences, which then are subject to a variational Bayes clustering plus a non-Bayesian (Silhouette) cluster statistic. The statistic shows an improved ability to identify the correct number of clusters and assign the components of cluster. Based on initial results for both generated test data and Escherichia coli microarray expression data and initial validation of the Escherichia coli results, it is shown that the method has promise in being able to better cluster time-series microarray data according to shape similarity.