Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A new method for optimal rate allocation for progressive image transmission over noisy channels

We present a new method for optimal rate allocation between a progressive image coder and a channel coder for noisy channels. A mathematical model for the embedded bit streams is developed and used as a new metric for such a joint source-channel coding optimization problem. It is further shown that maximization of such a new metric is equivalent to the maximization of a conventional PSNR measure. PSNR improvements up to 0.3 dB over very noisy channels at low bit rate are achieved by using the proposed method without any additional overheads. Furthermore, the PSNR performance obtained by using the proposed method is upper bounded by those of the conventional Monte Carlo method. Computational results and numerical comparisons consistently verify the merit of the proposed technique.
SIMULTANEOUS DETECTION OF MULTIPLE POLYMORPHISMS IN CYP 2 B 6 AND OPMR 1 BY NESTED PCR : A GOOD APPROACH FOR PATIENTS ON METHADONE

Objective: Cytochrome P450 2B6 (CYP2B6) is involved in the metabolism of several therapeutically important drugs and abused intoxicants including methadone. The preferential binding target for methadone is the μ opioid receptor OPRM1. Various SNPs in CYP2B6 and OPRM1 may contribute to clinical outcomes in methadone maintenance therapy. The aim of the present study was to develop a consistent and robust assay to identify such genotypic variants. Methods: We randomly selected patients in the Malay population who were addicted to heroin and had already commenced methadone therapy. We developed a two-step, multiplexed, nested PCR method to simultaneously identify 26 SNPs in CYP2B6 and OPRM1. Three amplicons covering seven regions of interest were amplified in the first PCR step. These amplicons were then used as templates for 11 sets of reactions in the second PCR step. Results: We successfully amplified DNA fragments containing 26 SNPs of interest from the DNA samples provided by patients receiving methadone therapy: C534T, G779A, G13076A, A454G, G24A, G820A, G942A, G31A, G438A, T106C, C440G, T397A, T15708C, T480C, C17T, G794A, A13072G, A76T, A62T, C64T, A136G, C15618T, G691C, G15631T, T802C, and A118G. Conclusion: The PCR-based method was sensitive and specific and is the first nested, allele-specific, multiplexed PCR method reported for the simultaneous detection of all 26 clinically important SNPs of CYP2B6 and OPMR1.
Identification of an updated set of prescribing--safety indicators for GPs.

BACKGROUND Medication error is an important contributor to patient morbidity and mortality and is associated with inadequate patient safety measures. However, prescribing-safety tools specifically designed for use in general practice are lacking. AIM To identify and update a set of prescribing-safety indicators for assessing the safety of prescribing in general practice, and to estimate the risk of harm to patients associated with each indicator. DESIGN AND SETTING RAND/UCLA consensus development of indicators in UK general practice. METHOD Prescribing indicators were identified from a systematic review and previous consensus exercise. The RAND Appropriateness Method was used to further identify and develop the indicators with an electronic-Delphi method used to rate the risk associated with them. Twelve GPs from all the countries of the UK participated in the RAND exercise, with 11 GPs rating risk using the electronic-Delphi approach. RESULTS Fifty-six prescribing-safety indicators were considered appropriate for inclusion (overall panel median rating of 7-9, with agreement). These indicators cover hazardous prescribing across a range of therapeutic indications, hazardous drug-drug combinations and inadequate laboratory test monitoring. Twenty-three (41%) of these indicators were considered high risk or extreme risk by 80% or more of the participants. CONCLUSION This study identified a set of 56 indicators that were considered, by a panel of GPs, to be appropriate for assessing the safety of GP prescribing. Twenty-three of these indicators were considered to be associated with high or extreme risk to patients and should be the focus of efforts to improve patient safety.
Glycine in the Central Nervous System in Experimental Allergic Encephalomyelitis

: The content of glycine, a possibly inhibitory neurotransmitter was studied in central nervous system of guinea pigs with experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE). The glycine level was increased in spinal cord, but not in the brain of animals with EAE. The greatest increase in glycine concentration was in lumbosacral cord, and at the time of appearance of clinical signs of disease. The results are discussed in terms of possible connection between the changes of glycine concentration and clinical signs of EAE.
Attention Shaping and Software Risk - A Categorical Analysis of Four Classical Risk Management Approaches

This paper examines software risk management in a novel way, emphasizing the ways in which managers address software risks through sequential attention shaping and intervention. Software risks are interpreted as incongruent states within a socio-technical model of organizational change that includes task, structure, technology, and actors. Such incongruence can lead to failures in developing or implementing the system and thus to major losses. Based on this model we synthesize a set of software risk factors and risk resolution techniques, which cover the socio-technical components and their interactions. We use the model to analyze how four classical risk management approaches-McFarlan's portfolio approach, Davis' contingency approach, Boehm's software risk approach, and Alter's and Ginzberg's implementation approach-shape managerial attention. This analysis shows that the four approaches differ significantly in their view of the manager's role and possible actions. We advise managers to be aware of the limitations of each approach and to combine them to orchestrate comprehensive risk management practices in a context. Overall, the paper provides a new interpretation of software risk management which goes beyond a narrow system rationalism by suggesting a contingent, contextual, and multivariate view of software development.
GTP-induced conformational changes in septins and implications for function

Septins constitute a group of GTP-binding proteins involved in cytokinesis and other essential cellular functions. They form heterooligomeric complexes that polymerize into nonpolar filaments and are dynamic during different stages of the cell cycle. Posttranslational modifications and interacting partners are widely accepted regulators of septin filament function, but the contribution of nucleotide is undefined due to a lack of detailed structural information. Previous low-resolution structures showed that the G domain assembles into a linear polymer with 2 different interfaces involving the N and C termini and the G binding sites. Here we report the crystal structure of SEPT2 bound to GppNHp at 2.9 Å resolution. GTP binding induces conformational changes in the switch regions at the G interfaces, which are transmitted to the N-terminal helix and also affect the NC interface. Biochemical studies and sequence alignment suggest that a threonine, which is conserved in certain subgroups of septins, is responsible for GTP hydrolysis. Although this threonine is not present in yeast CDC3 and CDC11, its mutation in CDC10 and CDC12 induces temperature sensitivity. Highly conserved contact residues identified in the G interface are shown to be necessary for Cdc3–10, but not Cdc11–12, heterodimer formation and cell growth in yeast. Based on our findings, we propose that GTP binding/hydrolysis and the nature of the nucleotide influence the stability of interfaces in heterooligomeric and polymeric septins and are required for proper septin filament assembly/disassembly. These data also offer a first rationale for subdividing human septins into different functional subgroups.
Radioimmunotherapy for the treatment of non-Hodgkin lymphoma: current status and future applications

Radioimmunotherapy (RIT) has proved to be a safe and effective treatment for patients with relapsed or refractory indolent non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) including rituximab-refractory follicular lymphoma. Further, FDA approval was recently granted for use in newly diagnosed follicular lymphoma as consolidative therapy immediately following induction chemotherapy. We detail herein the scope of clinical studies performed in relapsed/refractory and newly diagnosed indolent lymphoma and summarize the associated safety data. In addition, we discuss new applications of RIT that have been investigated in a variety of clinical scenarios (e.g. single-agent and sequential therapy in aggressive NHLs and as a component of stem cell transplant conditioning). The wide array of RIT-based studies have yielded encouraging data, although randomized controlled trials will be needed to prove superiority over conventional therapy. Novel therapeutic RIT-based strategies that continue to be explored include radiation-enhancing agents combined with RIT, pre-targeting, RIT fractionation, as well as the integration of new humanized antibodies. The field of RIT continues to evolve scientifically and grow clinically. A reappraisal of prior data and examination of recently published and ongoing studies will be important in recognizing the potential benefit of RIT in the treatment of NHL.
Similarity of Deforming Meshes Based on Spatio-temporal Segmentation

In this study, we investigate a similarity metric for comparing two deforming meshes. While there have been a large body of works on computing the similarity of static shapes, similarity judgments on deforming meshes are not studied well. Our algorithm uses the degree of deformation to binarily label each triangle in deforming mesh in the spatio-temporal domain, which serves as basis for the spatio-temporal segmentation. The segmentation results are encoded in a form of evolving graph, with an aim of obtaining a compact representation of the motion of the mesh. Finally, we formulate the similarity computation as a sequence matching problem: After clustering similar graphs and assigning each of the graphs with the cluster labels, each deforming mesh is represented with a sequence of labels. Then, we apply a sequence alignment algorithm to compute the locally optimal alignment between the two cluster label sequences, and to compute the similarity metric by normalizing the alignment score. We show that similarities of animation data can be captured correctly by our approach. This may be significant, as it solves a problem that cannot be handled by current approaches.
ECG interpretation in Emergency Department residents: an update and e-learning as a resource to improve skills

Objective ECG interpretation is a pivotal skill to acquire during residency, especially for Emergency Department (ED) residents. Previous studies reported that ECG interpretation competency among residents was rather low. However, the optimal resource to improve ECG interpretation skills remains unclear. The aim of our study was to compare two teaching modalities to improve the ECG interpretation skills of ED residents: e-learning and lecture-based courses. Participants and methods The participants were first-year and second-year ED residents, assigned randomly to the two groups. The ED residents were evaluated by means of a precourse test at the beginning of the study and a postcourse test after the e-learning and lecture-based courses. These evaluations consisted of the interpretation of 10 different ECGs. Results We included 39 ED residents from four different hospitals. The precourse test showed that the overall average score of ECG interpretation was 40%. Nineteen participants were then assigned to the e-learning course and 20 to the lecture-based course. Globally, there was a significant improvement in ECG interpretation skills (accuracy score=55%, P=0.0002). However, this difference was not significant between the two groups (P=0.14). Conclusion Our findings showed that the ECG interpretation was not optimal and that our e-learning program may be an effective tool for enhancing ECG interpretation skills among ED residents. A large European study should be carried out to evaluate ECG interpretation skills among ED residents before the implementation of ECG learning, including e-learning strategies, during ED residency.
Standards of Care for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender, and Gender-Nonconforming People, Version 7

ABSTRACT The Standards of Care (SOC) for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender, and Gender Nonconforming People is a publication of the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH). The overall goal of the SOC is to provide clinical guidance for health professionals to assist transsexual, transgender, and gender nonconforming people with safe and effective pathways to achieving lasting personal comfort with their gendered selves, in order to maximize their overall health, psychological well-being, and self-fulfillment. This assistance may include primary care, gynecologic and urologic care, reproductive options, voice and communication therapy, mental health services (e.g., assessment, counseling, psychotherapy), and hormonal and surgical treatments. The SOC are based on the best available science and expert professional consensus. Because most of the research and experience in this field comes from a North American and Western European perspective, adaptations of the SOC to other parts of the world are necessary. The SOC articulate standards of care while acknowledging the role of making informed choices and the value of harm reduction approaches. In addition, this version of the SOC recognizes that treatment for gender dysphoria i.e., discomfort or distress that is caused by a discrepancy between persons gender identity and that persons sex assigned at birth (and the associated gender role and/or primary and secondary sex characteristics) has become more individualized. Some individuals who present for care will have made significant self-directed progress towards gender role changes or other resolutions regarding their gender identity or gender dysphoria. Other individuals will require more intensive services. Health professionals can use the SOC to help patients consider the full range of health services open to them, in accordance with their clinical needs and goals for gender expression.
In-plane and out-of-plane particle velocity measurement using electromagnetic acoustical transducers

The electromagnetic acoustic transducer (EMAT) is a particle velocity sensor. EMATs can be used to preferentially measure particle velocities in a particular direction (such as in-plane or out-of-plane) by arranging a static magnetic field perpendicular to the vector plane constructed by the wire direction and the specific direction of interest without interfering with the incident ultrasonic field. A receiving EMAT model is given for both infinite and finite sized magnets and ultrasonic waves, explaining the influence of EMAT size, ultrasonic wave size on induced coil voltage and the sensitivity to liftoff. Rayleigh waves and Lamb waves are measured using in-plane and out-of-plane EMATs, and are validated by comparison to the theoretical predictions. More specifically predicted and measured phase and amplitude measurements for Rayleigh and Lamb waves are compared.
A Matrix Approach to Implicit Relationship Finding in Large-Scale Knowledge Bases

Relationships between entities in a Knowledge Base (KB) are not always explicitly expressed. In addition, entities may implicitly exist within explicit ones. These phenomena are very common when it comes to large-scale KBs. Finding implicit relationships in a KB can make the original KB more meaningful and enhance its potential in real world applications. In this paper, we focus on the problem of finding implicit-relationship networks in large-scale KBs. Since a network can be mathematically expressed as a matrix, the process of reasoning for implicit relationship finding can be transformed to matrix computation. Considering that there are many advantages for matrix computation instead of logic based and graph based reasoning (such as scalability for storing and processing relationships), by realizing the mathematical nature of KBs, we use matrix transformation and computation to investigate the problem of implicit relationship finding. We give several illustrative real world examples using large-scale KBs to validate this framework. In addition, we also investigate the potential problems of scalability on matrix storage, as well as the cost for computation and time. Based on the proposed approach and the consideration on the scalability issue, we develop the MIRF and MIRF-L algorithms which can efficiently process this kind of problem if the rules in concrete cases can be clearly expressed.
Breast Cancer Treatment in the Era of Molecular Imaging

Molecular imaging employs molecularly targeted probes to visualize and often quantify distinct disease-specific markers and pathways. Modalities like intravital confocal or multiphoton microscopy, near-infrared fluorescence combined with endoscopy, surface reflectance imaging, or fluorescence-mediated tomography, and radionuclide imaging with positron emission tomography (PET) and single-photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) are increasingly used for small animal high-throughput screening, drug development and testing, and monitoring gene therapy experiments. In the clinical treatment of breast cancer, PET and SPECT as well as magnetic resonance-based molecular imaging are already established for the staging of distant disease and intrathoracic nodal status, for patient selection regarding receptor-directed treatments, and to gain early information about treatment efficacy. In the near future, reporter gene imaging during gene therapy and further spatial and qualitative characterization of the disease can become clinically possible with radionuclide and optical methods. Ultimately, it may be expected that every level of breast cancer treatment will be affected by molecular imaging, including screening.
Correlating Sensitive Behaviours with User Interaction on Android

Correlating Sensitive Behaviours with User Interaction on Android Mariana D’Angelo Master of Applied Science Graduate Department of Electrical & Computer Engineering University of Toronto 2017 In recent years, ransomware and private information leakage have become more prevalent on mobile devices. Distinguishing such applications from benign ones that make use of similar functionality is challenging because they make use of the exact same APIs. In order to disambiguate these uses, a security analyst may wish to consider whether the user was aware of and consented to the sensitive behaviour. This thesis seeks to aid an analyst making this determination by correlating sensitive behaviours with user interaction. In order to assess user awareness, an analyst should consider all paths to a sensitive behaviour. A path to a sensitive behaviour should be preceded by some UI interaction or a read from persistent storage written to as a consequence of UI interaction. A technique capable of correlating sensitive behaviours with preceding UI interaction has been implemented and evaluated on a suite of synthetic applications.
Cartilage Repair Using Composites of Human Umbilical Cord Blood‐Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Hyaluronic Acid Hydrogel in a Minipig Model

The cartilage regeneration potential of human umbilical cord blood‐derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUCB‐MSCs) with a hyaluronic acid (HA) hydrogel composite has shown remarkable results in rat and rabbit models. The purpose of the present study was to confirm the consistent regenerative potential in a pig model using three different cell lines. A full‐thickness chondral injury was intentionally created in the trochlear groove of each knee in 6 minipigs. Three weeks later, an osteochondral defect, 5 mm wide by 10 mm deep, was created, followed by an 8‐mm‐wide and 5‐mm‐deep reaming. A mixture (1.5 ml) of hUCB‐MSCs (0.5 × 107 cells per milliliter) and 4% HA hydrogel composite was then transplanted into the defect on the right knee. Each cell line was used in two minipigs. The osteochondral defect created in the same manner on the left knee was untreated to act as the control. At 12 weeks postoperatively, the pigs were sacrificed, and the degree of subsequent cartilage regeneration was evaluated by gross and histological analysis. The transplanted knee resulted in superior and more complete hyaline cartilage regeneration compared with the control knee. The cellular characteristics (e.g., cellular proliferation and chondrogenic differentiation capacity) of the hUCB‐MSCs influenced the degree of cartilage regeneration potential. This evidence of consistent cartilage regeneration using composites of hUCB‐MSCs and HA hydrogel in a large animal model could be a stepping stone to a human clinical trial in the future.
Short Text Similarity Calculation Using Semantic Information

Text similarity is one of the important methods of text data analysis, which is often used in text clustering and classification. Social media is a new and popular online social application that contains a lot of valuable information. Short text is common in social media, and short text similarity is often used for social media data mining. The similarity calculation of short text is influenced by the small feature of text words and the accuracy is low. so it is a common improvement method to calculate the similarity of short texts with word semantic similarity. This paper put forward a short text semantic similarity calculation method that combine knowledge-based method and corpus-based method. This method is based on the improved word semantic similarity calculation method and general short text semantic similarity calculation method. The word similarity calculation method combines two word semantic similarity by some strategies. It takes the advantages of two methods to overcome the disadvantages of single one, finds out more semantic association among words in texts, and improves accuracy of word similarity calculation. This paper uses a large number of corpus to compare and analyze several word and text semantic similarity algorithms, the improved method has a closer result to human ratings than other methods in both word and text similarity.
Objective evaluation of English learners' timing control based on a measure reflecting perceptual characteristics

Automatic evaluation of English timing control proficiency is carried out by comparing segmental duration differences between learners and reference native speakers. To obtain an objective measure matched to human subjective evaluation, we introduced a measure reflecting perceptual characteristics. The proposed measure evaluates duration differences weighted by the loudness of the corresponding speech segment and the differences or jumps in loudness from the two adjacent speech segments. Experiments showed that estimated scores using the new perception-based measure provided a correlation coefficient of 0.72 with subjective evaluation scores given by native English speakers on the basis of naturalness in timing control. This correlation turned out to be significantly higher than that of 0.54 obtained when using a simple duration difference measure.