Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Correction for patient table-induced scattered radiation in cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT).

PURPOSE In image-guided radiotherapy, an artifact typically seen in axial slices of x-ray cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) reconstructions is a dark region or "black hole" situated below the scan isocenter. The authors trace the cause of the artifact to scattered radiation produced by radiotherapy patient tabletops and show it is linked to the use of the offset-detector acquisition mode to enlarge the imaging field-of-view. The authors present a hybrid scatter kernel superposition (SKS) algorithm to correct for scatter from both the object-of-interest and the tabletop. METHODS Monte Carlo simulations and phantom experiments were first performed to identify the source of the black hole artifact. For correction, a SKS algorithm was developed that uses separate kernels to estimate scatter from the patient tabletop and the object-of-interest. Each projection is divided into two regions, one defined by the shadow cast by the tabletop on the imager and one defined by the unshadowed region. The region not shadowed by the tabletop is processed using the recently developed fast adaptive scatter kernel superposition (fASKS) method which employs asymmetric kernels that best model scatter transport through bodylike objects. The shadowed region is convolved with a combination of slab-derived symmetric SKS kernels and asymmetric fASKS kernels. The composition of the hybrid kernels is projection-angle-dependent. To test the algorithm, pelvis phantom and in vivo data were acquired using a CBCT test stand, a Varian Acuity simulator, and a Varian On-Board Imager, all of which have similar geometries and components. Artifact intensities and Hounsfield unit (HU) accuracies in the reconstructions were assessed before and after the correction. RESULTS The hybrid kernel algorithm provided effective correction and produced substantially better scatter estimates than the symmetric SKS or asymmetric fASKS methods alone. HU nonuniformities in the reconstructed pelvis phantom were reduced from 220 to 50 HU (i.e., 22%-5%). In the in vivo scans, the black hole artifact was reduced by up to 147 HU, a 73% improvement, and anatomical details in the prostate and rectum areas were made considerably more visible. CONCLUSIONS Radiotherapy tabletops, which are generally flatter and larger than those used for diagnostic CT, can produce significant scatter-related artifacts. The proposed hybrid SKS algorithm accurately estimates scatter from both the object-of-interest and the patient tabletop, and resulting image uniformities and HU accuracies are greatly improved.
Intermittent Preventive Treatment in Infants as a Means of Malaria Control: a Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial in Northern Ghana

ABSTRACT Morbidity and mortality from malaria remain unacceptably high among young children in sub-Saharan Africa. Intermittent preventive treatment in infancy (IPTi) involves the administration of antimalarials alongside routine vaccinations and might be an option in malaria control. In an area of intense, perennial malaria transmission in northern Ghana, 1,200 children received IPTi with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine or placebo at approximately 3, 9, and 15 months of age. Children were followed up until 24 months of age to assess morbidity and adverse events. During the intervention period (3 to 18 months of age), IPTi reduced the incidences of malaria and severe anemia by 22.5% (95% confidence interval, 12 to 32%) and 23.6% (95% confidence interval, 4 to 39%), respectively, and reduced hospitalizations and episodes of asymptomatic parasitemia by one-third. Protection was pronounced in the first year of life and not discernible in the second. The malaria-protective effect was largely confined to a period of 1 month after sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine treatments. Following the intervention, protection against asymptomatic parasitemia persisted. In contrast, a significant rebound of severe malaria, predominantly severe malarial anemia, occurred among children having received IPTi. Although the treatment was generally well tolerated, one case of moderately severe skin reaction followed sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine treatment. IPTi reduces malaria and anemia in infants in northern Ghana. Extension of IPTi into the second year of life by administering a dose at 15 months of age provided no substantial benefit beyond a 1-month prophylactic effect. Although this simple intervention offers one of the few available malaria-preventive measures for regions where malaria is endemic, the observed rebound of severe malaria advises caution and requires further investigation.
The Post-Entry Performance of Irish Plants: Does a plant's Technological Activity Matter?

Is Research and Development activity an important determinant of the probability that a plant will survive? We model the survival of a cohort of Indigenous plants over the period 1986 to 1996 as a function of sectoral and firm characteristics. We use a firm-level dataset provided by Forfas, the policy and advisory board for industrial development in Ireland. We conclude that R&D activity is an important factor which increases the probability of survival for that plant. Specifically, R&D active indigenous plants had a higher probability of surviving the entire period 1986-1996 than non-R&D active plants. We show that this result is robust to alternative measures of technological activity in indigenous plants.
The Association between Psychiatric and Cognitive Symptoms after Stroke: A Prospective Study

Background: Stroke patients often have neuropsychiatric symptoms and cognitive deficits. The aim of this study was to investigate whether stroke patients with psychiatric symptoms are at increased risk of developing cognitive deficits. Methods: Cognitive function (assessed with a neuropsychological test battery) and presence of psychiatric symptoms (assessed with the 90-item Symptom Checklist) were evaluated at 1, 6, 12 and 24 months after stroke. Results: At baseline, 156 patients entered the study, 15 had a diagnosis of vascular dementia, 113 one of post-stroke mild cognitive impairment. Patients with psychiatric symptoms were found to be at increased risk of being diagnosed as having vascular dementia at baseline (OR = 6.9, CI = 1.3–36.8) and showed more decline on cognitive function 6 months after stroke. Conclusions: Patients with psychiatric symptoms after stroke are at increased risk of cognitive deficits and decline in cognitive functioning.
Prediction of growth rate at different light levels from measured photosynthesis and respiration rates.

Light integrators with a linear response are not suitable for measuring the light climates of plants because plants are not linear integrators. It should be possible to make a quantitative allowance for this nonlinearity by using the CO(2) uptake curve of the plant. To test this, we have subjected white clover plants to different levels of constant light, comparing the rate of increase of total dry matter with the net rate of uptake of CO(2) per day. Temperature, humidity, daylength and nutrient supply were kept constant. The growth rate calculated from CO(2) uptake agreed well with the observed rate over the light levels tested (3.7-88 w.m(-2), 0.4-0.7 micron: 1 w.m(-2) = 10(3) erg . sec(-1) cm(-2)). All plants put on weight over the few days of the experiment, even those placed at light levels below their compensation point. The plants adapted their respiration rates to be a constant proportion of their growth rates. Most of the adaptation occurred within 24 hours of the light change. The adaptation of respiration has implications for models of light/growth relations in plant communities, almost all of which assume that respiration is proportional to leaf area and independent of growth rate or light level. The only model which does not is that of de Wit, and this gave good agreement with our results.
Bisector-Based Tracking of In Plane Subpixel Translations and Rotations

We present a method for distance measuring planar displacements and rotations with image processing methods. The method is based on tracking the intersection of two non-parallel straight segments extracted from a scene. This kind of target can be easily identified in civil structures or in industrial elements or machines. Therefore, our method is suitable for measuring the displacement in some parts of structures and therefore for determining their stress state. We have evaluated the accuracy of our proposal through a computational simulation and validated the method through two lab experiments. We obtained a theoretical mean subpixel accuracy of 0.03 px for the position and 0.02 degrees for the orientation, whereas the practical accuracies were 0.1 px and 0.04 degrees, respectively. One presented lab application deals with the tracking of an object attached to a rotation stage motor in order to characterize the dynamic of the stage, and another application is addressed to the noncontact assessment of the bending and torsional process of a steel beam subjected to load. The method is simple, easy to implement, and widely applicable.
DNA G-quartets in a 1.86 A resolution structure of an Oxytricha nova telomeric protein-DNA complex.

The Oxytricha nova telomere end binding protein (OnTEBP) recognizes, binds and protects the single-stranded 3'-terminal DNA extension found at the ends of macronuclear chromosomes. The structure of this complex shows that the single strand GGGGTTTTGGGG DNA binds in a deep cleft between the two protein subunits of OnTEBP, adopting a non-helical and irregular conformation. In extending the resolution limit of this structure to 1.86 A, we were surprised to find a G-quartet linked dimer of the GGGGTTTTGGGG DNA also packing within the crystal lattice and interacting with the telomere end binding protein. The G-quartet DNA exhibits the same structure and topology as previously observed in solution by NMR with diagonally crossing d(TTTT) loops at either end of the four-stranded helix. Additionally, the crystal structure reveals clearly visible Na(+), and specific patterns of bound water molecules in the four non-equivalent grooves. Although the G-quartet:protein contact surfaces are modest and might simply represent crystal packing interactions, it is interesting to speculate that the two types of telomeric DNA-protein interactions observed here might both be important in telomere biology.
An Agile VCO Frequency Calibration Technique for a 10-GHz CMOS PLL

This paper reports an agile VCO frequency calibration technique and its application on a 10-GHz CMOS integer-N phase-locked loop. The proposed calibration method accomplishes efficient search for an optimum VCO discrete tuning curve among a group of frequency sub-bands. The agility is attributed to a proposed frequency comparison technique which is based on measuring the period difference between two signals. Other mixed-signal circuits are also developed to facilitate this approach. The PLL incorporating the proposed calibration technique is implemented in a 0.18-mum CMOS process. The measured PLL phase noise at 10 GHz is -102 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset frequency and the reference spurs are lower than -48 dBc. The PLL consumes 44 mW in the low-current mode. The calibration time is less than 4mus
Multi-target tracking through occlusions using extended Kalman filter and network flows

Multi-target tracking under the condition of occlusions is one of the difficult and attractive field in video tracking. Multi-target tracking has been modelled as network flows (NF) optimization problem recently. It is one of the most popular tracking-by-detection (TBD) algorithm, which links individual detections into trajectories. NF method is particularly effective due to its simple model and optimal solutions. But it is difficult to track multi-target from consecutive frames under long-term occlusions. Therefore, an approach combining extended Kalman filter (EKF) and NF algorithm is proposed in this paper, in which EKF can predict the position of the occluded target. Experimental results show that the proposed tracking method based on EKF and NF (EKF-NF), can enhance the stability of tracking multiple moving targets in complex scenarios.
Kimura's disease and angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia: two distinct histopathological entities

The relationship between the disorder known in Japanese and Chinese literature as Kimura's disease and that known in Western literature as angiolymphoid hyperplasia with eosinophilia (ALHE) has been the subject of debate. Many reports have used the terms synonymously. We have reviewed the histological and clinical features of 4 cases, all occurring in Caucasians, 2 of which are typical of Kimura's disease and 2 of ALHE. Analysis of the cases indicates that the histological features of the 2 disorders are sufficiently different to warrant their recognition as 2 distinct entities. The histological and clinical features of Kimura's disease are most consistent with an allergic or autoimmune process in which blood vessels, lymphocytes and eosinophils participate. Those of ALHE suggest a primary, probably neoplastic disorder of vascular endothelium with a variable and secondary inflammatory response. Although there is some clinical overlap between patients with the 2 disorders, the histological features are distinctive, and the 2 terms should not be used synonymously.
Determination of Total Arsenic in Indonesian Tuna Fish Sample

Article history: Received on: 11/02/2013 Revised on: 01/03/2013 Accepted on: 05/04/2013 Available online: 30/07/2013 Indonesia contributed about 4 percent of total global fresh and frozen tuna exports, exporting about 65.5 tones in 2007, valued at US$ 150 million. The determination of total arsenic fish and fish product has not been standardized in Indonesia. To get an accurate result of total arsenic measurement in tuna fish is very difficult, it is due to the relatively low concentration of total arsenic in the sample and the characteristic of organic arsenic species (arsenobetain). Arsenobetaine in particular, are not decomposed to arsenate, which can lead to serious error in quantification when a hydride generator step is additionally used in the analysis scheme. This research covers the performance evaluation of three methods of sample preparation. Determination of total arsenic concentration is done by using hydride generator quartz furnace atomic absorption spectrophotometry (HG-QFAAS) and ICP-MS, and being validated using CRM DORM-2 and DORM-3. The sample preparation and measurement method obtained were expected to be used as an alternative method for determination of total arsenic in tuna fish sample.
Twenty-Four-Hour Exposure to Altered Blood Flow Modifies Endothelial Ca2+-Activated K+ Channels in Rat Mesenteric Arteries

We tested the hypothesis that changes in arterial blood flow modify the function of endothelial Ca2+-activated K+ channels [calcium-activated K+ channel (KCa), small-conductance calcium-activated K+ channel (SK3), and intermediate calcium-activated K+ channel (IK1)] before arterial structural remodeling. In rats, mesenteric arteries were exposed to increased [+90%, high flow (HF)] or reduced blood flow [−90%, low flow (LF)] and analyzed 24 h later. There were no detectable changes in arterial structure or in expression level of endothelial nitric-oxide synthase, SK3, or IK1. Arterial relaxing responses to acetylcholine and 3-oxime-6,7-dichlore-1H-indole-2,3-dione (NS309; activator of SK3 and IK1) were measured in the absence and presence of endothelium, NO, and prostanoid blockers, and 6,12,19,20,25,26-hexahydro-5,27:13,18:21,24-trietheno-11,7-metheno-7H-dibenzo [b,n] [1,5,12,16]tetraazacyclotricosine-5,13-diium dibromide (UCL 1684; inhibitor of SK3) or 1-[(2-chlorophenyl)diphenylmethyl]-1H-pyrazole (TRAM-34; inhibitor of IK1). In LF arteries, endothelium-dependent relaxation was markedly reduced, due to a reduction in the endothelium-derived hyperpolarizing factor (EDHF) response. In HF arteries, the balance between the NO/prostanoid versus EDHF response was unaltered. However, the contribution of IK1 to the EDHF response was enhanced, as indicated by a larger effect of TRAM-34 and a larger residual NS309-induced relaxation in the presence of UCL 1684. Reduction of blood flow selectively blunts EDHF relaxation in resistance arteries through inhibition of the function of KCa channels. An increase in blood flow leads to a more prominent role of IK1 channels in this relaxation.
Semi-Automated Collection of Pitch Location and Intent in Baseball

An analysis of the pitcher’s intent in baseball should ideally depend upon information given by the catcher before the pitch is thrown. Expert judgment has already identified the importance of this factor (e.g. the pitcher is “missing his spots” when unsuccessful in hitting the target). We describe the underpinnings of a automated video analysis system that uses semi-supervised learning methods to identify the catcher position – specifically, the catcher’s glove position. The analysis begins with video of a single pitch, supervised by a human controller; this information is then incorporated into one of a selection of learning algorithms and applied to subsequent pitches with minimal involvement from the controller. This is designed to be the first step in creating a public database of pitch intent, to be coupled with existing sources of pitch physics, so that analysts may better evaluate pitcher performance.
Cytoskeleton of Mollicutes

Mollicutes are a class of bacteria that lack a peptidoglycan layer but have various cell shapes. They perform chromosome segregation and binary fission in a well-organized manner. Especially, species with polarized cell morphology duplicate their membrane protrusion at a position adjacent to the original one and move the new protrusion laterally to the opposite end pole before cell division. The featured various cell shapes of Mollicutes are supported by cytoskeletal structures composed of proteins. Recent progress in the study of cytoskeletons of walled bacteria and genome sequencing has revealed that the cytoskeletons of Mollicutes are not common with those of other bacteria. Mollicutes have special cytoskeletal proteins and structures that are sometimes not shared even by other mollicute species.
A Detection and Measurement Approach for Memory Leaked Objects in Java Programs

SUMMARY Memory leak occurs when useless objects cannot be released for a long time during program execution. Memory leaked objects may cause memory overﬂow, system performance degradation and even cause the system to crash when they become serious. This paper presents a dynamic approach for detecting and measuring memory leaked objects in Java programs. First, our approach tracks the program by JDI and records heap information to ﬁnd out the potentially leaked objects. Second, we present memory leaking conﬁdence to measure the inﬂuence of these objects on the program. Finally, we select three open-source programs to evaluate the e ﬃ ciency of our approach. Furthermore, we choose ten programs from DaCapo 9.12 benchmark suite to reveal the time overhead of our approach. The experimental results show that our approach is able to detect and measure memory leaked objects e ﬃ ciently.
Multi-standard wideband OFDM RF-PWM transmitter in 40nm CMOS

A fully digital 0.9GHz-2.6GHz multimode modulator based on the principle of RF-PWM is presented. It makes use of a delay-line based phase modulator which delays an incoming LO-signal with a resolution of 4ps. The modulator is designed to drive highly efficient switching power amplifiers and support carrier frequencies over a wide range. The modulator has been implemented in 40nm CMOS technology. It achieves an EVM of better than -29dB for a 802.11g 64-QAM OFDM signal. It has also been tested with 40MHz single carrier 64-QAM modulated signals. The measured ACPR is below -30dB up to 2GHz and possible improvements are demonstrated.
N-(2-Chloro-5-nitrophenyl)-N′-(3-chloropropionyl)thiourea

The title compound, C10H9Cl2N3O3S, adopts a trans–cis conformation with respect to the position of chloropropionyl and chloronitrobenzene groups respectively, against the thiono about their C—N bonds. The conformation is stabilized by an intramolecular N—H⋯O hydrogen bond. In the crystal, there is a short Cl⋯Cl contact with a distance of 3.386 (13) Å.
Simulation of Traumatic Brain Injury Symptoms on the Personality Assessment Inventory

The purpose of this study was to characterize the operating characteristics of the Personality Assessment Inventory (PAI) validity scales in distinguishing simulators feigning symptoms of traumatic brain injury (TBI) while completing the PAI (n = 84) from a clinical sample of patients with TBI who achieved adequate scores on performance validity tests (n = 112). The simulators were divided into two groups: (a) Specific Simulators feigning cognitive and somatic symptoms only or (b) Global Simulators feigning cognitive, somatic, and psychiatric symptoms. The PAI overreporting scales were indeed sensitive to the simulation of TBI symptoms in this analogue design. However, these scales were less sensitive to the feigning of somatic and cognitive TBI symptoms than the feigning of a broad range of cognitive, somatic, and emotional symptoms often associated with TBI. The relationships of TBI simulation to consistency and underreporting scales are also explored.
Isolation of thermostable phosphatase from the hyperthermophilic archaeon Thermococcus pacificus by immobilized metal affinity chromatography

Phosphatase was isolated from cells of the hyperthermophilic marine archaeon Thermococcus pacificus by a procedure including chromatography on Butyl‐Fractogel TSK‐650 and Ni2+‐iminodiacetic‐agarose. Enzyme activity is maximal at 90°C, and the enzyme half‐life time at this temperature is 1 h. The pH optimum of phosphatase activity is 6.0. Electrophoresis under denaturating conditions yielded a subunit molecular weight of 45 kDa. On gel‐filtration on Sephacryl S‐300 HR three peak corresponding to 295, 85 and 45 kDa were observed, suggesting that the enzyme is a homohexamer.
The in vivo binding site for oncoprotein c-Myc in the promoter for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) encoding RNA (EBER) 1 suggests a specific role for EBV in lymphomagenesis.

BACKGROUND Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) was isolated in the 1960s from the African childhood tumor, Burkitt's Lymphoma (BL), characterized by the translocation of the c-myc gene into one of the immunoglobulin loci. Due to the extreme discrepancy between the widespread dissemination of EBV infection and the overall rarity of EBV-related tumors, it remains an open question whether EBV is really a human tumor virus, and if so, what specific contribution EBV may have to tumorigenesis. MATERIAL/METHODS Protein binding at the EBER locus of EBV was analyzed by genomic footprinting electrophoretic mobility shift, reporter gene assay, and chromatin immunoprecipitation in a panel of six B-cell lines. RESULTS Several novel in vivo protein binding sites were found in the EBER locus. Among those, a prominent binding site, 130 base pairs upstream of the EBER1 gene, contains two E-boxes providing a consensus sequence for binding of the transcription factor and oncoprotein c-Myc to the EBV genome. CONCLUSIONS Based on the discovery of a binding site for c-Myc in the EBV genome, a new molecular model for the specific role of EBV as a causal factor in the origin of endemic Burkitt's Lymphoma is proposed. Translocated and deregulated c-myc directly activates and maintains the antiapoptotic functions of the EBER locus in a single EBV-infected B cell undergoing the germinal center (GC) reaction. With the balance shifted towards cell survival, the oncogenic potential of the pro-apoptotic c-Myc protein is unmasked in the translocated GC cell. This single translocated and surviving cell is the founder cell of an endemic BL. The new model reinstitutes EBV as a real human tumor virus.