Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Three‐point dixon technique for true water/fat decomposition with B0 inhomogeneity correction

An enhancement to Dixon's technique is described which can provide error‐free decomposition of water and fat proton images even in the presence of off‐resonance conditions which result from susceptibility differences, demagnetization, or shim errors. The method uses three measurements with phase shifts of 0, π and − π between the fat and water resonances. The additional information provided by the third measurement is used to calculate an image of the field inhomogeneity in addition to true water and fat images. The signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) in the decomposed images is equivalent to that of a 2.7 NEX acquisition (instead of 3 NEX), yielding an SNR imaging efficiency of 95%. In addition, the B0 image which is provided may have diagnostic value in its own right. Examples of head and body scans often portray surprisingly large B0 shifts near interfaces between air or bone and soft tissue. © 1991 Academic Press. Inc.
Healthcare simulation tutorial: Methods, challenges, and opportunities

Simulation in healthcare is becoming an increasingly important methodology for systems improvement projects. For any given project, the simulation methodology to be used is highly application-dependent. The majority of healthcare simulation models are performed with one of three methodologies: discrete-event simulation, system dynamics, or agent-based modeling. In this tutorial we will present examples of real-world projects applied using each method. These examples, some taken from our own research, will range from complex disease progression and social determinants of health to problems in resource planning, scheduling, and allocation. We will also discuss simulation challenges unique to healthcare such as privacy and security; regulation; IRB approval; data quality, availability, and collection; interdisciplinary collaboration and facility access. Finally, we will present our thoughts on emerging opportunities for healthcare simulation such as perioperative care; coordination across the care continuum; population health management; patient health belief and behavior; and emerging healthcare regulation and policy.
Draft Genome Sequence of the Gluten-Hydrolyzing Bacterium Bacillus subtilis GS 188, Isolated from Wheat Sourdough

ABSTRACT The draft genome sequence of Bacillus subtilis GS 188, a novel spore-forming probiotic bacterium with gluten-hydrolyzing potential, was isolated from wheat sourdough and provides deep insights into the beneficial features of this strain for its use in the preparation of gluten-reduced wheat foods for humans with celiac disease.
Expression and Genetic Variation in Neuroendocrine Signaling Pathways in Lethal and Nonlethal Prostate Cancer among Men Diagnosed with Localized Disease

Background: Recent data suggest that neuroendocrine signaling pathways may play a role in the progression of prostate cancer, particularly for early-stage disease. We aimed to explore whether expression of selected genes in the adrenergic, serotoninergic, glucocorticoid, and dopaminergic pathways differs in prostate tumor tissue from men with lethal disease compared with men with nonlethal disease. Methods: On the basis of the Swedish Watchful Waiting Cohort, we included 511 men diagnosed with incidental prostate cancer through transurethral resection of the prostate during 1977–1998 with follow-up up to 30 years. For those with tumor tissue (N = 262), we measured mRNA expression of 223 selected genes included in neuroendocrine pathways. Using DNA from normal prostate tissue (N = 396), we genotyped 36 SNPs from 14 receptor genes. Lethal prostate cancer was the primary outcome in analyses with pathway gene expression and genetic variants. Results: Differential expression of genes in the serotoninergic pathway was associated with risk of lethal prostate cancer (P = 0.007); similar but weaker associations were noted for the adrenergic (P = 0.014) and glucocorticoid (P = 0.020) pathways. Variants of the HTR2A (rs2296972; P = 0.002) and NR3CI (rs33388; P = 0.035) genes (within the serotoninergic and glucocorticoid pathways) were associated with lethal cancer in overdominant models. These genetic variants were correlated with expression of several genes in corresponding pathways (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Our findings lend support to hypothesis that the neuroendocrine pathways, particularly serotoninergic pathway, are associated with lethal outcome in the natural course of localized prostate cancer. Impact: This study provides evidence of the role of neuroendocrine pathways in prostate cancer progression that may have clinical utility. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev; 26(12); 1781–7. ©2017 AACR.
Multi-version Coding for Consistent Distributed Storage of Correlated Data Updates

Motivated by applications of distributed storage systems to cloud-based key-value stores, the multi-version coding problem has been recently formulated to store frequently updated data in asynchronous distributed storage systems. Inspired by consistency requirements in distributed computing, the main goal in multi-version coding is to ensure that the latest possible version of the data is decodable, even if all the data updates have not reached all the servers in the system. In this paper, we study the storage cost of ensuring consistency for the case where the various versions of the data are correlated, in contrast to previous work where versions were treated as being independent. We provide multi-version code constructions that show that the storage cost can be significantly smaller than the previous constructions depending on the degree of correlation between the different versions of the data. Our constructions are based on update-efficient codes, Reed-Solomon code, random binning coding and BCH codes. Specifically, we consider the multi-version coding setting with $n$ servers and $\nu$ versions, with a failure tolerance of $n-c$, where the $\nu$ message versions form a Markov chain. The message version is distributed uniformly over all binary vectors of length $K$, and given a version, the subsequent version is uniformly distributed in a Hamming ball of radius $\delta_K K$ centered around that given version. Previously derived achievable schemes have a per-server storage cost of at least $ \frac{1}{2}\frac{\nu K}{c}-o(K)$ when $\nu \leq c$, whereas we propose a scheme that has a storage cost of $\frac{K}{c} + \frac{\nu-1}{c}\log Vol(\delta_KK, K)$, where $Vol(r, K)$ is the volume of a ball of radius $r$ in the $K$ dimensional Hamming cube. Through a converse result, we show that our multi-version code constructions are nearly-optimal in certain correlation regimes.
Visual Psychophysics and Physiological Optics Heterochromatic Flicker Photometry for Objective Lens Density Quantification

Inserm U1208, Stem Cell and Brain Research Institute, Bron, France University of Lyon, University Claude Bernard Lyon 1, Lyon, France Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University, Stanford, California, United States Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center, Veterans Affairs Palo Alto Health Care System, Palo Alto, California, United States Department of Ophthalmology, CHU de Lyon Hôpital Edouard Herriot, Lyon, France
Psychological Hardiness in Women with Paraplegia

&NA; A revised model of psychological hardiness suggests that transformational coping, positive health behaviors, and activistic social support may be qualitative indicators of hardiness and an expression of the synergistic presence of commitment, control, and challenge. Hardiness indicators correlate with health rather than illness, and have an indirect effect on the stress‐illness relationship through health. Stress and illness also correlate with health. A secondary qualitative analysis of the transcripts of eight women with paraplegia revealed three major themes related to spinal cord injury (SCI): physiological aspects of SCI, associated with the traumatic event and its consequences; psychological aspects of SCI, associated with problem‐solving, choices, and challenges; and social aspects of SCI, associated with personal and professional relationships.
Tri-band filter design using substrate integrated waveguide resonators in LTCC

This paper exploits the modal orthogonality to present a new design technique for tri-band filters with minimum number of resonators. Taking advantage of the multiple modes inside one substrate integrated cavity, the coupling mechanisms for different pass bands can be selectively controlled by the modal field distributions. Thus, a tri-band filter of four-pole quasi-elliptic response can be realized by four resonators only. Also, the design can facilitate the feeding design to meet the required external quality factor at the three bands simultaneously. In terms of low-loss co-fired ceramic (LTCC) technology, the cavities are vertically stacked, and the filter size can be miniaturized. The design concept has been verified by both the simulation and measured results.
Spatio-Temporal Dynamics in Swiss Regional Unemployment

It is generally accepted that regional labor markets are characterized by strong interdependencies. However, only few studies include spatial elements to their estimations. Using the model framework proposed by Cliff and Ord (1973, 1981) and the estimation technique proposed by Kelejian and Prucha (1998), we estimate a spatial time series model for the Swiss cantonal unemployment rates on a quarterly level. Our model contains a spatial lag in the level and in the error term, as well as further exogenous explanatory variables. While both spatial lags turn out to be significant in our estimations, the dependency in the error term seems to be even stronger than the one in the level.
Techniques and Challenges in Speech Synthesis

The aim of this project was to develop and implement an English language Text-to-Speech synthesis system. This involved a study of mechanisms of human speech production, a review of techniques in speech synthesis, and analysis of tests used to evaluate the effectiveness of synthesized speech. It was determined that a diphone synthesis system was the most effective choice for the scope of this project. A method of automatically identifying and extracting diphones from prompted speech was designed, allowing for the creation of a diphone database by a speaker in less than 40 minutes. CMUdict was used to determine the pronunciation of known words. A system for smoothing the transitions between diphone recordings was designed and implemented. CMUdict was then used to train a maximum-likelihood prediction system to determine the correct pronunciation of unknown English language alphabetic words. Then, a Part Of Speech tagger was designed to find the lexical class of words within a sentence. A method of altering the pitch, duration, and volume of the produced voice over time was designed, being a combination of the TD-PSOLA algorithm and a novel approach referred to as Unvoiced Speech Duration Shifting. This minimises distortion of the voice when shifting the pitch or duration, while maximising computational efficiency by operating in the time domain. This approach was used to add correct lexical stress to vowels within words. A text tokenisation system was developed to handle arbitrary text input, allowing pronunciation of numerical input tokens and use of appropriate pauses for punctuation. Methods for further improving sentence level speech naturalness were discussed. Finally, the system was tested with listeners for its intelligibility and naturalness.
The infectivity assay of foot-and-mouth disease virus in pigs

FMDV strains were titrated in pigs by inoculation of the bulb of the heel of the foot, the coronary band region of the foot, and the tongue. Heel inoculation gave end-points approximately 300-fold higher than did the other two methods. Parallel titrations in cattle and mice gave infectivity estimates approximately 10-fold and 100-fold higher, respectively, than did heel titration of pigs. The average variance of individual end-points determined for heel titration was 0·46 (log10 units) and that determined for coronary-band titration was 0·74. The sources of variations in end-points given by heel titrations are discussed.
Advances in Photonic Integrated Circuits (PIC) and Their Impact on Fiber Optic Transmission Systems

This paper will discuss the development of large-scale photonic integrated circuits (LS PICs) that enable greater penetration of digital signal management into the network. These LS PICs dramatically change the cost structure of conversion of the signal between the optical and electronic domains and thus enable the utilization of the vast array of available technologies for digital signal management, such as performance monitoring, fault sectioning, switching, grooming, and routing at a greatly improved depth within the network
Center of mass and its domain for heavy hexapod robots

Center of mass domain of a hexapod robot must be determined in order to analyze the mobility performance and accomplish the high-fidelity simulation. Hexapod robot is simplified as a system of particles based on the structure characteristics of the developed hydraulically actuated hexapod robot. Position vectors of all mass points are established by coordinate transformation. Center of mass position in any gesture and its domain of a hexapod robot are derived. Simulation platform is established based on Vortex. Position control functions of hydraulic cylinders are solved according to the motion planning and the geometric relationship of robot. Simulation of walking process by using the proposed mass center position is completed. Hexapod robot prototype is developed, and centroid position of the body is measured according to the force sensors installed on the foot of the robot. Correctness of theoretical analysis results is proved. Walking tests of the robot prototype are accomplished, and the results show that simulation curves and experimental curves of foot force are consistent. Rationality and feasibility of the center of mass calculation method is verified, and this method can be applied for other types of robots.
Altérations cellulaires hippocampiques liées à l'âge et récupération cognitive induite par un enrichissement environnemental chez les souris Tg2576 modèles de la maladie d’Alzheimer

Afin comprendre les mecanismes cellulaires qui sous-tendent le developpement de la maladie d'Alzheimer (MA), nous avons utilise des souris transgeniques (Tg2576) qui developpent des alterations phenotypiques mimant certains aspects de la MA. Nous avons revele qu'au cours du developpement de la MA, la neurogenese hippocampique est alteree chez les jeunes souris Tg2576 et qu'un remodelage du reseau neuronal de l'hippocampe pourrait contribuer aux deficits de memoire. D'autre part, il a ete suggere que les facteurs environnementaux pourraient diminuer le risque de developper la MA chez l'Homme. L'hypothese de la "reserve cognitive" propose que les stimulations cognitives induisent des modifications durables du cerveau, le rendant plus resistant a la demence et aux atteintes cellulaires. L'exposition precoce des souris a un environnement enrichi restaure les performances de memoire et reduit la formation de plaques amyloides dans le cerveau.
Less Is More: Semantic Information Survives Interocular Suppression When Attention Is Diverted

The extent of unconscious semantic processing has been debated. It is well established that semantic information is registered in the absence of awareness induced by inattention. However, it has been debated whether semantic information of invisible stimuli is processed during interocular suppression, a procedure that renders one eye's view invisible by presenting a dissimilar stimulus to the other eye. Inspired by recent evidence demonstrating that reduced attention attenuates interocular suppression, we tested a counterintuitive hypothesis that attention withdrawn from the suppressed target location facilitates semantic processing in the absence of awareness induced by interocular suppression. We obtained an electrophysiological marker of semantic processing (N400 component) while human participants' spatial attention was being manipulated with a cueing paradigm during interocular suppression. We found that N400 modulation was absent when participants' attention was directed to the target location, but present when diverted elsewhere. In addition, the correlation analysis across participants indicated that the N400 amplitude was reduced with more attention being directed to the target location. Together, these results indicate that inattention attenuates interocular suppression and thereby makes semantic processing available unconsciously, reconciling conflicting evidence in the literature. We discuss a tight link among interocular suppression, attention, and conscious awareness. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT Interocular suppression offers a powerful means of studying the extent of unconscious processing by rendering a salient stimulus presented to one eye invisible. Here, we provide evidence that attention is a determining factor for unconscious semantic processing. An electrophysiological marker for semantic processing (N400 component) was present when attention was diverted away from the suppressed stimulus but absent when attention was directed to that stimulus, indicating that inattention facilitates unconscious semantic processing during the interocular suppression. Although contrary to the common sense assumption that attention facilitates information processing, this result is in accordance with recent studies showing that attention modulates interocular suppression but is not necessary for semantic processing. Our finding reconciles the conflicting evidence and advances theories of consciousness.
Numerical simulation of high-current vacuum arc in external magnetic field with ion sticking probability depending on the incident angle

The paper is devoted to the further developing of a numerical model for the simulation of high current vacuum arcs (HCVA) with cathode attachment in the form of multiple cathode spots. The model allows one to simulate: the supersonic/subsonic transition in HCVA, near-cathode mixing zone, and HCVA with multiply separate columns. This is the continuation of previous work of the authors about of the HCVA hybrid model [6]. The model is substantially modified. Ionization, recombination, and charge exchange of atom and ions are taken in considerations with the help of Monte Carlo methods. The modification allows to take in account the dependence of ion sticking coefficient on the incident angle and to follow the further evolution of the resulting atom.
Decreased occipital lobe metabolism by FDG-PET/CT

Objective: To compare brain metabolism patterns on fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET/CT in anti–NMDA receptor and other definite autoimmune encephalitis (AE) and to assess how these patterns differ between anti–NMDA receptor neurologic disability groups. Methods: Retrospective review of clinical data and initial dedicated brain FDG-PET/CT studies for neurology inpatients with definite AE, per published consensus criteria, treated at a single academic medical center over a 10-year period. Z-score maps of FDG-PET/CT were made using 3-dimensional stereotactic surface projections in comparison to age group–matched controls. Brain region mean Z scores with magnitudes ≥2.00 were interpreted as significant. Comparisons were made between anti–NMDA receptor and other definite AE patients as well as among patients with anti–NMDA receptor based on modified Rankin Scale (mRS) scores at the time of FDG-PET/CT. Results: The medial occipital lobes were markedly hypometabolic in 6 of 8 patients with anti–NMDA receptor encephalitis and as a group (Z = −4.02, interquartile range [IQR] 2.14) relative to those with definite AE (Z = −2.32, 1.46; p = 0.004). Among patients with anti–NMDA receptor encephalitis, the lateral and medial occipital lobes were markedly hypometabolic for patients with mRS 4–5 (lateral occipital lobe Z = −3.69, IQR 1; medial occipital lobe Z = −4.08, 1) compared with those with mRS 0–3 (lateral occipital lobe Z = −0.83, 2; p < 0.0005; medial occipital lobe Z = −1.07, 2; p = 0.001). Conclusions: Marked medial occipital lobe hypometabolism by dedicated brain FDG-PET/CT may serve as an early biomarker for discriminating anti–NMDA receptor encephalitis from other AE. Resolution of lateral and medial occipital hypometabolism may correlate with improved neurologic status in anti–NMDA receptor encephalitis.
High-density EMG E-Textile systems for the control of active prostheses

Myoelectric control of active prostheses requires electrode systems that are easy to apply for daily repositioning of the electrodes by the user. In this study we propose the use of Smart Fabric and Interactive Textile (SFIT) systems as an alternative solution for recording high-density EMG signals for myoelectric control. A sleeve covering the upper and lower arm, which contains 100 electrodes arranged in four grids of 5×5 electrodes, was used to record EMG signals in 3 subjects during the execution of 9 tasks of the wrist and hand. The signals were analyzed by extracting wavelet coefficients which were classified with linear discriminant analysis. The average classification accuracy for the nine tasks was 89.1 ± 1.9 %. These results show that SFIT systems can be used as an effective way for muscle-machine interfacing.
Toward objective security measurability and manageability

Security Evaluation and Management (SEM) is considerably important process to protect the Embedded System (ES) from various kinds of security's exploits. In general, SEM's processes have some challenges, which limited its efficiency. Some of these challenges are system-based challenges like the hetero-geneity among system's components and system's size. Some other challenges are expert-based challenges like mis-evaluation possibility and experts non-continuous availability. Many of these challenges were addressed by the Multi Metric (MM) framework, which depends on experts' or subjective evaluation for basic evaluations. Despite of its productivity, subjective evaluation has some drawbacks (e.g. expert misevaluation) foster the need for considering objective evaluations in the MM framework. In addition, the MM framework is system centric framework, thus, by modelling complex and huge system using the MM framework a guide is needed indicating changes toward desirable security's requirements. This paper proposes extensions for the MM framework consider the usage of objective evaluations and work as guide for needed changes to satisfy desirable security requirements.
The TIS11 primary response gene is a member of a gene family that encodes proteins with a highly conserved sequence containing an unusual Cys-His repeat

The TIS11 primary response gene is rapidly and transiently induced by both 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate and growth factors. The predicted TIS11 protein contains a 6-amino-acid repeat, YKTELC. We cloned two additional cDNAs, TIS11b and TIS11d, that contain the YKTELC sequence. TIS11, TIS11b, and TIS11d proteins share a 67-amino-acid region of sequence similarity that includes the YKTELC repeat and two cysteine-histidine containing repeats. TIS11 gene family members are not coordinately expressed: (i) unlike TIS11, the TIS11b and TIS11d mRNAs are detectable in quiescent Swiss 3T3 cells and are not dramatically induced by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate; (ii) cycloheximide superinduction does not occur for TIS11b and TIS11d; and (iii) unlike TIS11, TIS11b expression is extinguished in PC12 pheochromocytoma cells.