Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Intra-articular steroids in radiologically confirmed tarsal and hip synovitis of juvenile idiopathic arthritis.

OBJECTIVE To estimate the value of MRI or US imaging in the diagnosis of synovitis and the response to local steroid therapy in tarsal and hip synovitis. METHODS 32 patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), 19 of them with 22 tarsal and 13 of them with 20 hip synovitis, were followed up for 12 months after intra-articular corticosteroid treatment (IAST). MRI was taken from swollen ankles/feet to target the inflamed area before IAST. The synovitis in hip joints was assessed by both clinical and ultrasonographic examination. RESULTS MRI showed that in the swollen tarsal area the inflammation was distributed widely in the joints and tendon sheaths. In 13/22 (59%) ankles/feet, synovitis was observed in multiple joint spaces. In 17/22 (77%) ankles/feet, tenosynovitis was present. In 32% of cases, the IAST induced clinical remission for up to 12 months. In hip synovitis, ultrasound supplemented clinical assessment. At 12 months after IAST a successful treatment response was seen in 10/20 (50%) hips. CONCLUSION In unresponsive tarsal arthritis, the synovitic sites should be targeted by radiological imaging to improve the efficacy of corticosteroid injections. For pediatric rheumatologists, easy access to US is preferable to optimize the treatment of hip and tarsal synovitis in JIA.
Probability density function estimation using Multi-layer perceptron

The problem of estimating a probability density function (pdf) can easily be encountered in many areas of experimental physics (high energy, spectroscopy, etc.) and other fields. The standard procedure is to bin the space and approximate the pdf by the ratio between the number of events falling inside each bin over the total and normalized to the bin volume. In this paper we estimate the univariate pdf using an MLP (Multi-Layer Perceptron) where the inputs are based on the exponential model. The proposed method is very effective and estimated densities are too close to some theoretical pdfs. Our method has been integrated in the famous steepest descent algorithm for marginal score functions estimation where two linearly mixed sources were successfully separated.
DNA archives and our nearest relative: the trichotomy problem revisited.

Ever since Thomas H. Huxley correctly identified the chimpanzee and the gorilla as the two closest relatives of the human, the problem of the relationship among the three species ("the trichotomy problem") has remained unresolved. Comparative morphology and other classical methods of biological investigation have failed to answer definitively whether the chimpanzee or the gorilla is the closest relative of the human species. DNA sequences, both mitochondrial and nuclear, too, have provided equivocal solutions, depending on the region of the genome analyzed. Random sorting of ancestral allelic lineages, sequence convergence, and sequence exchanges between alleles or duplicated loci have been identified as likely factors confounding the interpretation of the interrelationships among the three species. In the present study most of these difficulties are overcome by identifying evolutionary causes that might potentially provide misleading information. Altogether, 45 loci consisting of 46, 855 bp are analyzed. About 60% of the loci and approximately the same proportion of phylogenetically informative sites support the human-chimpanzee clade. The remaining 40% of loci and sites support the two alternatives equally. It is demonstrated that, while incompatibility between loci can be explained by random sorting of allelic lineages, incompatibility within loci must be attributed largely to the joint effect of recombination and genetic drift. The trichotomy problem can be properly addressed only within this framework.
Evaluating Context Selection Strategies to Build Emotive Vector Space Models

In this paper we compare different context selection approaches to improve the creation of Emotive Vector Space Models (VSMs). The system is based on the results of an existing approach that showed the possibility to create and update VSMs by exploiting crowdsourcing and human annotation. Here, we introduce a method to manipulate the contexts of the VSMs under the assumption that the emotive connotation of a target word is a function of both its syntagmatic and paradigmatic association with the various emotions. To study the differences among the proposed spaces and to confirm the reliability of the system, we report on two experiments: in the first one we validated the best candidates extracted from each model, and in the second one we compared the models’ performance on a random sample of target words. Both experiments have been implemented as crowdsourcing tasks.
Effectiveness of Bayesian Updating Attributes in Data Transferability Applications

This paper presents the findings from an analysis of several Bayesian updating scenarios in the context of data transferability. Bayesian updating has been recognized as having great potential for use in the transportation field, especially in the simulation of travel demand and other transportation-related data. For local areas where comprehensive data collection is too costly and infeasible, Bayesian updating can be used to synthesize travel demand data in a process generally referred to as data transferability. Bayesian updating has been occasionally employed for transferring travel data; however, various aspects and disadvantages of its use have been insufficiently studied. This work addresses issues about Bayesian updating techniques in data transferability, including a comparison of the use of conjugate and nonconjugate formulations in the updating models, their relative effectiveness, and impacts of the quality of the prior information on final results. The study shows that, in general, updating small local samples of travel attribute data with prior information from national data sources provides an improved estimate of local travel attributes compared with using the local sample only. However, this study found that the inclusion of all available historical data in the prior distributions does not necessarily improve the quality of the updating results. Therefore, careful analysis of the applicability of the prior information to the desired context is necessary when a Bayesian updating formulation is used. The 2001 National Household Travel Survey and the 1995 Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey were used for the demonstration exercises in this study.
Minimal residual disease in leukaemia and lymphoma.

The leukaemias and lymphomas may be contrasted sharply with most other malignancies by the fact that, despite wide spread dissemination at presentation many patients may be returned to normality, sometimes permanently following therapy. Survival correlates closely with the extent to which the disease has been eliminated, or the completeness of remission. It is of considerable practical importance to define the response to therapy as precisely as possible. Thus any technique permitting the detection of disease at a lower level than conventionally possible might be of enormous benefit, possibly allowing modification of therapy to convert a 'complete remission' destined to relapse (the majority) into cure, or alternatively the termination of therapy in a patient already cured. Minimal Residual Disease (MRD) is a clumsy and contentious term, by definition describing the lowest level of disease detectable with the methods available. It is however in common use. The most sensitive techniques are often able to demonstrate molecular and cellular change in the neoplastic cells, in morphologically and cytologically normal tissue. The determination of tumour specific markers [1-3] is important in order to devise a strategy for detection of MRD. There is a need for rapidity, ease and certainty of results and techniques involving enzymatic amplification (PCR) [4] offer the best opportunity of attaining these aims. Southern analysis allows similar specificity however there is a much lengthier procedure with a marked loss of sensitivity [5-7].
Notice of RetractionThe research of building production-oriented data mart for mine enterprises based on data mining

According to the demands of digital mine and smart mine, taking account of present status of mine information process, based on deep-going analysis of characteristics of mining technology, we study how to mine and discovery knowledge from immense mine data. Aim at building green and intelligent mine, we mainly discuss the methods and architectures of establishing production-oriented mine data mart with data mining concepts and techniques, which is not only to satisfy the needs of diary production but decision-making analysis as well.
The relationship between quality of response and clinical benefit for patients treated on the bortezomib arm of the international, randomized, phase 3 APEX trial in relapsed multiple myeloma

Quality of response is associated with prolonged overall survival (OS) in newly diagnosed multiple myeloma patients. This cohort study within the phase 3 Assessment of Proteasome Inhibition for Extending Remissions (APEX) trial of bortezomib versus dexamethasone in relapsed myeloma assessed the relationship between quality of response to bortezomib (n = 315) and clinical benefit. Treatment‐free interval (TFI), time to alternative therapy (TTAT), time to progression (TTP) and OS were assessed in response‐evaluable patients in the bortezomib arm in cohorts defined by achievement of complete response (CR; n = 27), very good partial response (VGPR; n = 31), partial response (PR; n = 77), minimal response (MR; n = 21) or non‐response (NR, including stable and progressive disease; n = 159). CR was associated with significantly longer median TFI (24·1 vs. 6·9/6·4 months) and TTAT (27·1 vs. 13·6/14 months) versus VGPR/PR. Median TTP was similar in CR, VGPR and PR cohorts; median OS was not reached. Patients achieving MR appeared to have prolonged median TFI (3·8 vs. 2·3 months), TTAT (8·7 vs. 6·2 months), TTP (4·9 vs. 2·8 months) and OS (24·9 vs. 18·7 months) versus NR. In conclusion, bortezomib had substantial activity in relapsed myeloma patients; CR may be a surrogate marker for significant clinical benefit with bortezomib. MR appeared to be valid as a separate response category in this setting.
Unique Continuation Property for a Coupled Second-Fourth Order Dynamical System and Its Application

In this paper we consider a coupled second-fourth order dynamical system. In this coupled system, there are two types of hyperbolic operators in the principal part. We first use the localized Fourier–Gauss transformation to change the coupled second-fourth order dynamical system to a coupled second-fourth order system with two types of elliptic operators in the principal part. After that we derive Carleman-type estimates for the two types of elliptic operators with same weights and apply it to prove the unique continuation property (UCP) of the solution. Using the UCP, we can extend the Dirichlet-to-Neumann map given for large enough time interval to the infinite time interval. We also give some application to the data analysis of the nondestructive testing of steel-concrete connected beams.
STSIC detection for multi-user MIMO MC-CDMA systems

In this paper space time serial interference cancellation (STSIC) detection technique is proposed for multi-user multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) multi-carrier code division multiple access (MC-CDMA) system to over come the affects of multiple access interference (MAI) caused by other users present in the system. STSIC technique combines the receiver diversity and serial interference cancellation (SIC) in overcoming MAI. The proposed system outperforms the optimal multi-user detection (MUD) and linear MUD techniques in overcoming the affects of MAI. It is also found that Gold codes are preferred over random codes in increasing the system performance.
Dietary Fiber Intake: Assessing the Degree of Agreement between Food Frequency Questionnaires and 4-Day Food Records

Objective: To assess the degree of agreement (comparability) between dietary fiber intakes reported on a food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) with 4-day food records (4DFR) and determine whether demographic, behavioral and biological factors influence comparability. Methods: At baseline and year one, all participants in the Polyp Prevention Trial (PPT), a multi-center randomized, clinical trial of a low-fat, high fiber, high fruit/vegetable eating plan and recurrence of large bowel adenomatous polyps were instructed in dietary assessment and completed a 106-item FFQ and 4DFR that trained nutritionists reviewed. A random sub-cohort of participants (n = 399) was selected from the intervention and control arms of the PPT for analysis of both FFQ and 4DFR. Results: Baseline crude and energy-adjusted fiber intakes were significantly higher in the 4DFR than the FFQ (P = 0.001). Using Bland-Altman statistics, the mean difference (FFQ-4DFR) was −0.11 g/MJ; while the limits of agreement were −1.45, 1.23 g/MJ. The mean fiber difference increased with increasing average intake (FFQ + 4DFR)/2, (P = 0.004) for men, but not women (P = 0.10), suggesting that fiber intake was under-estimated in the FFQ, relative to the 4-DFR, for men with low fiber intakes and over-estimated for men with high intakes. Smoking and gender significantly influenced the average intake at baseline, whereas other demographic and behavioral factors did not. Education was significantly associated with average difference in fiber intake at baseline, but not at year 1. Conclusions: This study of clinical trial volunteers revealed differences in the ability to comparably report fiber intake across tools by gender, smoking, and education, however participants’ repeated training in dietary assessment improved comparability in reporting over time.
RNA Silencing of Single and Multiple Members in a Gene Family of Rice1[w]

RNA silencing with inverted repeat (IR) constructs has been used to suppress gene expression in various organisms. However, the transitive RNA-silencing effect described in plants may preclude the use of RNA silencing for a gene family. Here, we show that, in rice (Oryza sativa), transitive RNA silencing (spreading of double-stranded RNA along the target mRNA) occurred with the green fluorescent protein transgene but not with the endogenous phytoene desaturase gene. We fused IR copies of unique 3′ untranslated regions derived from the rice OsRac gene family to a strong promoter and stably introduced them into rice. Each of the seven members of the OsRac gene family was specifically suppressed by its respective IR construct. We also examined IR constructs in which multiple 3′ untranslated regions were fused and showed that three members of the OsRac gene family were effectively suppressed by a single construct. Using highly conserved regions of the two members of the OsRac gene family, we also suppressed the expression of all members of the gene family with variable efficiencies. These results suggest that RNA silencing is a useful method for the functional analysis of gene families in rice and other plants.
Comparison of mycobacteria growth indicator tube with BACTEC 460 for detection and recovery of mycobacteria from clinical specimens

We compared the Mycobacteria Growth Indicator Tube (MGIT) system with the BACTEC 460 (B460) and Lowenstein Jensen (LJ) systems for the recovery of mycobacteria (acid-fast bacteria [AFB]) from 1,441 clinical specimens. Excluding 13 isolates of Mycobacterium gordonae, 178 significant AFB isolates were recovered from 113 patients. Isolates (119) of the Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC) accounted for 67% of all isolates, while isolates (30) of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTB) accounted for 17% of isolates. The MGIT system recovered 98 (82%) MAC and 27 (90%) MTB isolates, while the B460 system recovered 101 (85%) MAC and 28 (93%) MTB isolates and the LJ system recovered 91 (76%) MAC and 25 (83%) MTB isolates. Overall, the MGIT system recovered 152 isolates of AFB (85.4% sensitivity), and the B460 and LJ systems recovered 151 (84.8% sensitivity) and 137 (76.9% sensitivity) AFB isolates, respectively. The recoveries of AFB with combinations of media were as follows: MGIT + LJ, 93.2%; B460 + LJ, 92.1%; and MGIT + B460, 96.6%. Although the sensitivity of MGIT was equivalent to that of B460, MGIT required a longer incubation (median, 11 days) than did B460 (median, 8 days) to become positive (P < 0.05).
On a human-robot collaboration in an assembly cell

This is a study of a Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) framework for the execution of collaborative tasks in hybrid assembly cells. Robots and humans coexist in the same cell and share tasks according to their capabilities. An intelligent decision-making method that allows human-robot task allocation is proposed and is integrated within a Robot Operating System (ROS) framework. The proposed method enables the allocation of sequential tasks assigned to a robot and a human in separate workspaces. The focus is rather given to the human–robot coexistence for the execution of sequential tasks, in order for the automation level in manual or even hybrid assembly lines to be increased. Body gestures are the means of a human’s interaction with a robot for commanding and guiding reasons. The proposed framework is implemented into a case coming from the manual assembly lines of an automotive industry. A preliminary design of a hybrid assembly cell is presented, focusing on the assembly of a hydraulic pump by robots and humans.
The LFG Architecture and " Verbless " Syntactic Constructions

One of the most appealing things about the LFG architecture is that it does not stipulate that syntactic functions must be expressed configurationally at some level of the grammar. LFG's functional structure is a representation which abstracts away from the way in which syntactic functions are encoded, by phrase structure position or by morphological case marking. It therefore makes possible a more universal, languageindependent form of syntactic representation than an architecture that uses phrase structure to model syntactic functions.
A PH Domain in the Arf GTPase-activating Protein (GAP) ARAP1 Binds Phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-Trisphosphate and Regulates Arf GAP Activity Independently of Recruitment to the Plasma Membranes*

ARAP1 is a phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate (PtdIns(3,4,5)P3)-dependent Arf GTPase-activating protein (GAP) with five PH domains that regulates endocytic trafficking of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Two tandem PH domains are immediately N-terminal of the Arf GAP domain, and one of these fits the consensus sequence for PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 binding. Here, we tested the hypothesis that PtdIns(3,4,5)P3-dependent recruitment mediated by the first PH domain of ARAP1 regulates the in vivo and in vitro function of ARAP1. We found that PH1 of ARAP1 specifically bound to PtdIns(3,4,5)P3, but with relatively low affinity (≈1.6 μm), and the PH domains did not mediate PtdIns(3,4,5)P3-dependent recruitment to membranes in cells. However, PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 binding to the PH domain stimulated GAP activity and was required for in vivo function of ARAP1 as a regulator of endocytic trafficking of the EGFR. Based on these results, we propose a variation on the model for the function of phosphoinositide-binding PH domains. In our model, ARAP1 is recruited to membranes independently of PtdIns(3,4,5)P3, the subsequent production of which triggers enzymatic activity.
Research on 3D Modeling for Head MRI Image Based on Immune Sphere-Shaped Support Vector Machine

In head MRI image sequences, the boundary of each encephalic tissue is highly complicated and irregular. It is a real challenge to traditional 3D modeling algorithms. Support vector machine (SVM) based on statistical learning theory has solid theoretical foundation. sphere-shaped SVM (SSSVM) was originally developed for solving some special classification problems. In this paper, it is extended to image 3D modeling which tries to find the smallest hypersphere enclosing target data in high dimensional space by kernel function. However, selecting parameter is a complicated problem which directly affects modeling accuracy. Immune algorithm (IA), mainly applied to optimization, is used to search optimal parameter for SSSVM. So, immune SSSVM (ISSSVM) is proposed to construct the 3D models for encephalic tissues. As our experiment demonstrates, the models are constructed and reach satisfactory modeling accuracies. Theory and experiment indicate ISSSVM exhibits its great potential in image 3D modeling.
Title : A Stochastic Time-to-Digital Converter for Digital Phase-Locked Loops

approved: _____________________________________________________ Un-Ku Moon Kartikeya Mayaram Digital phase-locked loops (PLLs) have been receiving increasing attention recently due to their ease of integration, scalability and performance comparable to their analog counterparts. In digital PLLs, increased resolution in time-to-digital conversion is desirable for improved noise performance. This work describes the design and simulation of a stochastic time-to-digital converter (STDC) for a digital PLL to attain high resolution. The converter is intended to comprise the fine loop of the phase-frequency detector, whose coarse loop would be comprised of a time-todigital converter designed using the conventional delay-chain approach. The STDC is designed, simulated and sent for fabrication in a 0.35 m SOI CMOS process. System level simulations in MATLAB are verified by device level simulations in Spectre on circuits extracted from layout. The results support the viability of using the proposed circuit for high resolution time-to-digital conversion. Copyright by Kerem Ok August 26, 2005 All Rights Reserved A Stochastic Time-to-Digital Converter for Digital Phase-Locked Loops
The impact of extrinsic amino acids and solvent fractionation on the in vitro antioxidant activity of plastein reaction-stressed casein hydrolysates.

Papain was used to prepare a casein hydrolysate with a degree of hydrolysis of 9.4 %. The hydrolysate had the in vitro antioxidant activity with a DPPH radical scavenging activity of 38.7 % and an EC50 of 1.63 mg/mL. Extrinsic phenylalanine or tyrosine was added to the hydrolysate for a papain-catalyzed plastein reaction. The temperature, substrate mass per volume fraction, and the levels of enzyme and amino acid addition during the reaction were optimized using response surface methodology with a fixed reaction time of 5 h, and were found to be 30 °C, 50 %, 3 kU per g of peptides and 0.74 mol per mol of the free amino groups of the hydrolysate, respectively. Some modified hydrolysates were prepared and their antioxidant activity was evaluated in terms of DPPH radical scavenging activity and reducing power. The results revealed that all prepared modified hydrolysates had significantly higher (p<0.05) scavenging activity and reducing power than the original hydrolysate, and among them one showed the lowest EC50 of 1.09 mg/mL against DPPH radical. When the modified hydrolysate with the highest activity was fractionated using ethanol/ water solvents in volume ratios of 3:7, 4:6, 5:5 and 6:4, the supernatant or precipitate fraction exhibited an enhanced or decreased activity or reducing power, especially with the solvent of lower polarity (e.g. 6:4 by volume). The obtained supernatant with the highest activity thus exhibited an EC50 of 0.69 mg/mL. The results show that extrinsic phenylalanine or tyrosine addition in the plastein reaction of casein hydrolysate and further solvent fractionation of the modified hydrolysate is applicable to improve the antioxidant properties of products.