Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Prevalence of Periodontitis in Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis: a Case Control Study

Objectives: To assess the prevalence of periodontal disease among patients undergoing renal dialysis. Methods: Sixty hemodialysis patients (30 males, 30 females) with a mean age of 44.4±9.5 years comprised the study group. Periodontal parameters such as plaque index (PI), bleeding on probing (BOP), probing pocket depth (PPD) and clinical attachment level (CAL) were measured in these patients and 60 age and sex-matched control subjects. The data was tabulated and analyzed. Results: The mean duration of dialysis was 5.50±3.02 years. The plaque index (PI) bleeding on probing (BOP), Periodontal probing depth (PPD) and clinical attachment level (CAL) were significantly higher in patients undergoing hemodialysis than in control subjects. The mean clinical attachment level was significantly higher among the dialysis patients (2.78±0.83 mm) than the control subjects (1.97±0.53 mm). The plaque index and bleeding on probing also showed a similar pattern in patients undergoing hemodialysis compared to control patients. The prevalence and severity of periodontal disease seems to be higher in patients undergoing dialysis. Conclusion: From the observations of this study, it can be concluded that patients undergoing hemodialysis are more prone to periodontal diseases. Further studies with a larger population and a comparison with the duration of dialysis may further substantiate the current findings.
Conditions for Parametric and Free-Carrier Oscillation in Silicon Ring Cavities

We model optical parametric oscillation in ring cavities with two-photon absorption, focusing on silicon at 1.55 <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu$</tex-math></inline-formula>m. Oscillation is possible if free-carrier absorption can be mitigated; this can be achieved using carrier sweep-out in a reverse-biased p-i-n junction to reduce the carrier lifetime. By varying the pump power, detuning, and reverse-bias voltage, it is possible to generate frequency combs in cavities with both normal and anomalous dispersion at a wide range of wavelengths including 1.55 <inline-formula><tex-math notation="LaTeX">$\mu$</tex-math></inline-formula>m. Furthermore, a free-carrier self-pulsing instability leads to rich dynamics when the carrier lifetime is sufficiently long.
In vivo high resolution human retinal imaging with wavefront correctionless full-field OCT

As the lateral resolution of FFOCT with spatially incoherent illumination has been shown to be insensitive to aberrations, we demonstrate high resolution en face full-field OCT (FFOCT) retinal imaging without wavefront correction in the human eye in vivo for the first time. A combination of FFOCT with spectral-domain OCT (SDOCT) is applied for real-time matching of the optical path lengths (OPL) of FFOCT. Through the real-time cross-sectional SDOCT images, the OPL of the FFOCT reference arm is matched with different retinal layers in the FFOCT sample arm. Thus, diffraction limited FFOCT images of multiple retinal layers are acquired at both the near periphery and the fovea. The en face FFOCT retinal images reveal information about various structures such as the nerve fiber orientation, the blood vessel distribution, and the photoreceptor mosaic.
Current status and future perspectives of endoscopic full‐thickness resection

Flexible endoscopy has developed from a diagnostic tool for tissue biopsy sampling to a treatment tool for endoscopic resection of neoplasms in the digestive tract. In the near future, one of the advanced endoscopic techniques, endoscopic full‐thickness resection (EFTR), is expected to be a feasible endoscopic procedure. In the present review, systematic review of conventional exposed EFTR was carried out. Search queries were (endoscopic full‐thickness resection or EFTR) (over‐the‐scope clip or OTSC) (Overstitch System) from 2015 to 2017. Four retrospective, single‐center studies with regard to conventional EFTR were identified. With regard to indication for conventional exposed EFTR, gastrointestinal stromal tumor was a good indication for EFTR. Mean tumor size of all four studies was 20.71 mm. In two studies, endoclips were used to close the resected opening without any complications, but the other two studies reported complications such as delayed perforation even using OTSC. Procedure times were reported from a minimum of 40 min to a maximum of 105 min. We also refer to introduction of a newly developed procedure of EFTR (non‐exposed EFTR), and development of a new suturing device in Japan.
Challenges and Solutions for Tracing Storage Systems

IBM Spectrum Scale’s parallel file system General Parallel File System (GPFS) has a 20-year development history with over 100 contributing developers. Its ability to support strict POSIX semantics across more than 10K clients leads to a complex design with intricate interactions between the cluster nodes. Tracing has proven to be a vital tool to understand the behavior and the anomalies of such a complex software product. However, the necessary trace information is often buried in hundreds of gigabytes of by-product trace records. Further, the overhead of tracing can significantly impact running applications and file system performance, limiting the use of tracing in a production system. In this research article, we discuss the evolution of the mature and highly scalable GPFS tracing tool and present the exploratory study of GPFS’ new tracing interface, FlexTrace, which allows developers and users to accurately specify what to trace for the problem they are trying to solve. We evaluate our methodology and prototype, demonstrating that the proposed approach has negligible overhead, even under intensive I/O workloads and with low-latency storage devices.
Data-Driven Analysis of Functional Connectivity Reveals a Potential Auditory Verbal Hallucination Network

Abstract Schizophrenia is a severe global health problem, with over half of such patients experiencing auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs). A better understanding of the neural correlates differentiating patients experiencing AVHs from patients not experiencing AVHs and healthy controls may identify targets that lead to better treatment strategies for AVHs. Employing 2 data-driven, voxel-based measure of functional connectivity, we studied 46 patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder (28 experiencing AVHs and 18 not experiencing AVHs). Twenty healthy controls matched for age, gender, ethnicity, education level, handedness, and estimated verbal intelligence were included for comparison. The intrinsic connectivity distribution (ICD) was used to model each voxel’s connectivity to the rest of the brain using a Weibull distribution. To investigate lateralization of connectivity, we used cross-hemisphere ICD, a method that separates the contribution of each hemisphere to interrogate connectivity laterality. Patients with AVHs compared with patients without AVHs exhibited significantly decreased whole-brain connectivity in the medial prefrontal cortex and posterior cingulate cortex, less lateralized connectivity in left putamen, and more lateralized connectivity in left interior frontal gyrus. Correlations with Auditory Hallucination Rating Scale (AHRS) and post hoc seed connectivity analyses revealed significantly altered network connectivity. Using the results from all analyses comparing the patient groups and correlations with AHRS, we identified a potential AVH network, consisting of 25 nodes, showing substantial overlap with the default mode network and language processing networks. This network as a whole, instead of individual nodes, may represent actionable targets for interventions.
Interaction With ATM for Blind

A talking ATM may be a kind of Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) that gives perceptible directions so that persons United Nations agency will not scan associate degree ATM screen can severally use the machine. All perceptible data is delivered in private through an earpiece jack on the face of the device or an on an individual basis hooked up a telephone. Information provided to the client either through pre-recorded sound files or via text-to-speech synthesis A user plugs a conventional telephone receiver into the jack, hear directions and also the user can respond to voice. In spite of everything, the small print is given press OK button for confirmation. There's associate degree perceptible orientation for initial time users, and perceptible data describing the placement of options like the OK button, deposit slot, and card slot. During this application is principally developed for the blind individuals. The blind people cannot see the keyboard and also the screen for the system. They enter the input details through voice. The voice to text converter can convert into text and method additional way. The system offers the instruction regarding the system usage through voice.
In silico identification and screening of CYP24A1 inhibitors: 3D QSAR pharmacophore mapping and molecular dynamics analysis

Vitamin D is a key signalling molecule that plays a vital role in the regulation of calcium phosphate homeostasis and bone remodelling. The circulating biologically active form of vitamin D is regulated by the catabolic mechanism of cytochrome P450 24-hydroxylase (CYP24A1) enzyme. The over-expression of CYP24A1 negatively regulates the vitamin D level, which is the causative agent of chronic kidney disease, osteoporosis and several types of cancers. In this study, we found three potential lead molecules adverse to CYP24A1 through structure-based, atom-based pharmacophore and e-pharmacophore-based screening methods. Analysis was done by bioinformatics methods and tools like binding affinity (binding free energy), chemical reactivity (DFT studies) and molecular dynamics simulation (protein–ligand stability). Combined computational investigation showed that the compounds NCI_95001, NCI_382818 and UNPD_141613 may have inhibitory effects against the CYP24A1 protein.
Warp-knitted Fabric Defect Segmentation Based on the Shearlet Transform

The Shearlet transform has been a burgeoning method applied in the area of image processing recently which, differing from the Wavelet transform, has excellent properties in processing singularities for multidimensional signals. Not only is it similar to the performance of the Curvelet transform, it also overcomes the disadvantage of the Curvelet transform with respect to discretization. In this paper, the Shearlet transform with segmented threshold de-nosing is proposed to segment a warp-knitted fabric defect. Firstly a warp-knitted fabric image of size 512*512 is filtered by the Laplacian Pyramid transform and decomposed into low frequency and high frequency coefficients. Secondly the high frequency coefficients are operated with a pseudo-polar grid and then convoluted by the window function. Thirdly the shearlet coefficients will be obtained through redefining the Cartesian coordinates from the pseudo-polar grid coordinates and de-noised by the segmented threshold method. Then the coefficients which have high energy are selected for reconstruction in an inverse way using the previous steps. Finally the iterative threshold method and object operation based on morphology are applied to segment out the defect profile. The experiment’s result states that the Shearlet transform shows excellent performance in segmenting a common warp-knitted fabric defect, indicating that the segment results can be applied for further defect automatic recognition.
Investigating Relationships in Online Communities: A Social Network Analysis

Nowadays, business value is intended to be obtained in online communities through social interactions enabled by social media platforms. In this paper, we presented the measurements and a framework for investigating the relationships within online communities. Social network analysis techniques are applied to the collected data set of online social interactions. Different interactive patterns are identified within the online community. Our study will provide a viable method for investigating relationships within online communities, and help to broaden the theoretical understanding for business practitioners to improve the relationship quality and develop better marketing strategies.
Apoptosis-independent cleavage of RhoGDIβ at Asp19 during PMA-stimulated differentiation of THP-1 cells to macrophages

Rho GDP-dissociation inhibitor β (RhoGDIβ), a regulator of the Rho family of proteins, is expressed abundantly in the hematopoietic cell lineage. During apoptosis of hematopoietic cells, RhoGDIβ is cleaved by caspase-3 at Asp19 and this cleaved form (Δ19-RhoGDIβ) has been implicated in the apoptotic pathway. To clarify the role of RhoGDIβ in hematopoietic cells, the present study performed immunoblotting and immunofluorescence staining to examine the expression of RhoGDIβ and ∆19-RhoGDIβ during phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA)-stimulated differentiation of human THP-1 monocytic cells to macrophages. During differentiation of the THP-1 cells to macrophages, the expression of RhoGDIβ remained stable; however, the expression of Δ19-RhoGDIβ increased, particularly in well-spreading, non-apoptotic cells, which differentiated into macrophages. These results suggested that Δ19-RhoGDIβ has an apoptosis-independent role in the PMA-induced differentiation of THP-1 cells to macrophages.
Model-based lasso catheter tracking in monoplane fluoroscopy for 3D breathing motion compensation during EP procedures

Radio-frequency catheter ablation (RFCA) of the pulmonary veins (PVs) attached to the left atrium (LA) is usually carried out under fluoroscopy guidance. Overlay of detailed anatomical structures via 3-D CT and/or MR volumes onto the fluoroscopy helps visualization and navigation in electrophysiology procedures (EP). Unfortunately, respiratory motion may impair the utility of static overlay of the volume with fluoroscopy for catheter navigation. In this paper, we propose a B-spline based method for tracking the circumferential catheter (lasso catheter) in monoplane fluoroscopy. The tracked motion can be used for the estimation of the 3-D trajectory of breathing motion and for subsequent motion compensation. A lasso catheter is typically used during EP procedures and is pushed against the ostia of the PVs to be ablated. Hence this method does not require additional instruments, and achieves motion estimation right at the site of ablation. The performance of the proposed tracking algorithm was evaluated on 340 monoplane frames with an average error of 0.68 ± 0.36 mms. Our contributions in this work are twofold. First and foremost, we show how to design an effective, practical, and workflow-friendly 3-D motion compensation scheme for EP procedures in a monoplane setup. In addition, we develop an efficient and accurate method for model-based tracking of the circumferential lasso catheter in the low-dose EP fluoroscopy.
Editorial: Perioperative Pharmacological Management: From Prescription Medications to Dietary Supplements.

The Perioperative Surgical Home (PSH), as defined by the American Society of Anesthesiologists, coordinates patient care throughout the entire perioperative period from preoperative medical optimization to postoperative recovery [1]. This PSH concept has expanded the role of anesthesiologists from intraoperative providers to true perioperative physicians. It is an individualized patient-centered practice focusing on standardization, communication and coordination of care throughout the entire perioperative continuum [2]. Physician anesthesiologists and PSH healthcare providers must know how to manage the perioperative usage of preoperative long-term medications and to understand the medication interactions between home medications and anesthetic agents.
Nutraceutical Properties and Safety Evaluation of Fruits and Arrope ofGeoffroea decorticans (ChaÃÂ±ar)

Context: Geoffroea decorticans (chanar) fruits and its derivate product (arrope) have been traditionally used as food and in folk medicine for the treatment of a wide variety of diseases including bronchopulmonary disorder. Objective: The objective of this study is to evaluate the antitussive, expectorant and anti-inflammatory effects and safety of aqueous extract (AE) and arrope (Ar) of chanar. Materials and methods: The anti-inflammatory activity of AE and Ar was evaluated through carrageenan induced edema and cotton pellet-induced granuloma formation in rats. The antitussive activity was evaluated using model against ammonia induced cough in rats. The expectorant activity was evaluated by volume of phenol red in rat’s tracheas. The tested doses of extracts were of 250, 500 and 1000 mg/kg, (p.o.). For the safety evaluation of AE and Ar, was conducted the subchronic toxicity test in rats (1 g/kg and 2 g/kg, p.o.). Results: The results showed that AE (1000 mg/Kg) significantly reduced the edema (100%) induced by carrageenan 3 h post-dosing and granuloma formation (47.76%) induced by cotton pellets. In the ammonia liquor induced cough and the amount of phenol red secretion, AE and Ar of chanar (1000 mg/kg) significantly enhanced the latent period of cough, inhibited the cough frequency and significantly enhance tracheal phenol red compared with that negative control. The result of toxicity assays suggested that AE and Ar did not induce or cause any damage to the liver and kidney of the rats and can be considered nontoxic for these animals at tested doses. Discussion and conclusion: This study has shown that the AE and Ar possess antitussive and expectorant significant effect. Also AE possess significant anti-inflammatory effects, both extracts were nontoxic. These findings seem to justify use of the plant in traditional medicine and are proposed, the chanar fruits as an excellent nutraceutical.
Aberrant tRNA processing causes an autoinflammatory syndrome responsive to TNF inhibitors

Objectives To characterise the clinical features, immune manifestations and molecular mechanisms in a recently described autoinflammatory disease caused by mutations in TRNT1, a tRNA processing enzyme, and to explore the use of cytokine inhibitors in suppressing the inflammatory phenotype. Methods We studied nine patients with biallelic mutations in TRNT1 and the syndrome of congenital sideroblastic anaemia with immunodeficiency, fevers and developmental delay (SIFD). Genetic studies included whole exome sequencing (WES) and candidate gene screening. Patients’ primary cells were used for deep RNA and tRNA sequencing, cytokine profiling, immunophenotyping, immunoblotting and electron microscopy (EM). Results We identified eight mutations in these nine patients, three of which have not been previously associated with SIFD. Three patients died in early childhood. Inflammatory cytokines, mainly interleukin (IL)-6, interferon gamma (IFN-γ) and IFN-induced cytokines were elevated in the serum, whereas tumour necrosis factor (TNF) and IL-1β were present in tissue biopsies of patients with active inflammatory disease. Deep tRNA sequencing of patients’ fibroblasts showed significant deficiency of mature cytosolic tRNAs. EM of bone marrow and skin biopsy samples revealed striking abnormalities across all cell types and a mix of necrotic and normal-appearing cells. By immunoprecipitation, we found evidence for dysregulation in protein clearance pathways. In 4/4 patients, treatment with a TNF inhibitor suppressed inflammation, reduced the need for blood transfusions and improved growth. Conclusions Mutations of TRNT1 lead to a severe and often fatal syndrome, linking protein homeostasis and autoinflammation. Molecular diagnosis in early life will be crucial for initiating anti-TNF therapy, which might prevent some of the severe disease consequences.
What Happened? Leveraging VerbNet to Predict the Effects of Actions in Procedural Text

Our goal is to answer questions about paragraphs describing processes (e.g., photosynthesis). Texts of this genre are challenging because the effects of actions are often implicit (unstated), requiring background knowledge and inference to reason about the changing world states. To supply this knowledge, we leverage VerbNet to build a rulebase (called the Semantic Lexicon) of the preconditions and effects of actions, and use it along with commonsense knowledge of persistence to answer questions about change. Our evaluation shows that our system, ProComp, significantly outperforms two strong reading comprehension (RC) baselines. Our contributions are two-fold: the Semantic Lexicon rulebase itself, and a demonstration of how a simulation-based approach to machine reading can outperform RC methods that rely on surface cues alone. Since this work was performed, we have developed neural systems that outperform ProComp, described elsewhere (Dalvi et al., NAACL'18). However, the Semantic Lexicon remains a novel and potentially useful resource, and its integration with neural systems remains a currently unexplored opportunity for further improvements in machine reading about processes.
Identification and Evaluation of Novel Protective Antigens for the Development of a Candidate Tuberculosis Subunit Vaccine

ABSTRACT The development of a vaccine against tuberculosis (TB), a disease caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis, is urgently needed. The only currently available vaccine, M. bovis BCG, has variable efficacy. One approach in the global vaccine development effort is focused on boosting BCG using subunit vaccines. The identification of novel antigens for inclusion in subunit vaccines is a critical step in the TB vaccine development pathway. We selected four novel mycobacterial antigens recognized during the course of human infection. A replication-deficient chimpanzee adenovirus (ChAdOx1) was constructed to express each antigen individually, and these vectors were evaluated for protective efficacy in murine M. tuberculosis challenge experiments. One antigen, PPE15 (Rv1039c), conferred significant and reproducible protection when administered alone and as a boost to BCG vaccination. We identified immunodominant epitopes to define the protective immune responses using tetramers and intravascular staining. Lung parenchymal CD4+ and CD8+ CXCR3+ KLRG1− T cells, previously associated with protection against M. tuberculosis, were enriched in the vaccinated groups compared to the control groups. Further work to evaluate the protective efficacy of PPE15 in more stringent preclinical animal models, together with the identification of further novel protective antigens using this selection strategy, is now merited.
Predicting Indoor Crowd Density using Column-Structured Deep Neural Network

This work proposes a deep neural network approach known as the column-structured deep neural network (COL-DNN-R) for predicting crowd density in an indoor environment using historical Wi-Fi traces of individual visitors. With a structure designed to minimize feature engineering, COL-DNN accepts raw features such as crowd density, opening and closing hours and peak visitor counts for extracting features. The extracted features are used by a regression model R for predicting the crowd densities. Standard regression models such as MLP, RF and SVM can be used as R. Experiments are performed to investigate the effect of feature representation and model structure on the prediction accuracy. Experiment results show the best prediction accuracy is obtained using features extracted by COL-DNN and using MLP as the regression model, i.e., R = MLP.