Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Fast super resolution ultrasound imaging using the erythrocytes

Super resolution (SR) imaging is currently conducted using fragile ultrasound contrast agents. This precludes using the full acoustic pressure range, and the distribution of bubbles has to be sparse for them to be isolated for SR imaging. Images have to be acquired over minutes to accumulate enough positions for visualizing the vasculature. A new method for SUper Resolution imaging using the Erythrocytes (SURE) as targets is introduced, which makes it possible to maximize the emitted pressure for good signal-to-noise ratios. The abundant number of erythrocyte targets make acquisition fast, and the SURE images can be acquired in seconds. A Verasonics Vantage 256 scanner was used in combination with a GE L8-18iD linear array probe operated at 10 MHz for a wavelength of 150 μm. A 12 emissions synthetic aperture ultrasound sequence was employed to scan the kidney of a Sprague-Dawley rat for 24 seconds to visualize its vasculature. An ex vivo micro-CT image using the contrast agent Microfil was also acquired at a voxel size of 22.6 μm for validating the SURE images. The SURE image revealed vessels with a size down to 29 μm, five times smaller than the ultrasound wavelength, and the dense grid of vessels in the full kidney was reliably shown for scan times between 1 to 24 seconds. Visually the SURE images revealed the same vasculature as the micro-CT images. SURE images are acquired in seconds rather than minutes without contrast injection for easy clinical use, and they can be measured at full regulatory levels for pressure, intensity, and probe temperature.
Modeling a Local Dissimilarity Map With Weibull Distribution–Application to 2-Class and Multi-Class Image Classification

Due to the considerable increase of images in everyday life, many applications require a study on their similarity. The main challenge is to find a simple and efficient method to compare and classify image pairs into similar and dissimilar classes. This study presents a new method to image pairs comparison and classification based on the modeling of the Local Dissimilarity Map (LDM). The LDM is a tool for locally measuring the dissimilarity between two binary or grayscale images. It is a measure of dissimilarities based on a modified version of the Hausdorff distance, which allows quantifying locally the dissimilarities between images. This measure is completely without parameters and generic. The image pairs classification (2-class classification) method is structured as follows. First, a statistical model for the LDM is proposed. The model parameters, used as descriptors, are relevant to discriminate similar and dissimilar image pairs. Second, classifiers are applied to compute the classification scores (2-class classification problem). In addition, this approach is robust with respect to geometric transformations such as translation compared to the state-of-the-art similarity measures. Although the main objective of this paper is to apply our approach to image pairs classification, it is also performed on a classification with more than two classes (multi-class classification). Experiments on the well-known image data sets *NIST and on old print data set prove that the proposed method produces comparable, even better results than the state-of-the-art methods in terms of accuracy and $F_{1}$ score.
Investigating the Changes in Cream Properties Following Topical Application and Their Influence on the Product Efficiency

Topical products are not stable following application to the skin due to the evaporation of volatile components. Such changes have been demonstrated in liquid emulsions, but there is almost no study available for creams in this respect. The aim of the present investigation is to evaluate the changes in cream properties following topical application and their influence on product efficiency. A method has also been designed and validated to mimic cream application to the skin. To perform this investigation, five different creams were prepared and alterations of type of creams, size of droplets of the dispersed phase, occlusivity, water content and rate of water loss were studied after application. These changes were then attributed to the type of cream, water content, presence of humectant, and time post application. The results demonstrated that creams changed intensely after application, including the phase inversion of O/W formulations, changes in the occlusivity of creams, reduction of water content, rate of water evaporation and droplet size. Such changes could be controlled partly by humectants. The present results suggest that formulators should be aware of such possible changes and required precautions should be taken in advance.
Energy and nutrient digestibility from mulberry (Morus alba) leaf meal for Nile tilapia

The aim of this study was to determine the apparent digestibility coefficients and digestible values of crude protein, ethereal extract, gross energy and dry matter of mulberry leaf meal (MLM) (Morus alba L.) as Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus) feed. A total of 135 Nile tilapia juveniles were used, and the indirect methodology (Cr2O3) was applied for digestibility determinations. Mulberry leave meal presented good apparent digestible coefficients of protein, ethereal extract and energy with respective values of 0.94, 0.58 and 0.39. The mulberry leave meal thus comprises adequate digestible protein and digestible energy values, similar or better than other leafy foods, presenting potential for inclusion in Nile tilapia diets.
Design And Optimization Techniques Using In Turning Fixture

Fixtures are work holding devices designed to hold, locate and support work pieces during manufacturing operations. Turning fixtures are wildly used in manufacturing industries. Here we design the turning fixture for machining the filter head. Filter heads are widely used in hydraulic machineries. The main objective for developing the turning fixture is to reduce the cycling time, setting time and production cost by changing the existing fixture in VMC machine into Turning Centre.
PARP-1 Expression and BRCA1 Mutations in Breast Cancer Patients’ CTCs

Simple Summary Recent estimates have shown that approx. 70% of individuals with BRCA1 mutations will develop breast cancer by the age of 70. To make matters worse, breast cancer patients with BRCA1 mutations are more likely to have the more aggressive triple-negative breast cancer. PARPs, belong to a family of nuclear enzymes, which are involved in many cellular processes, including DNA repair. PARP inhibitors have been approved for the treatment of BRCA-mutated breast cancer. The aim of the study was the determination of PARP-1 expression in the context of the presence of BRCA1 mutations in circulating tumor cells of breast cancer patients. PARP-1 (nuclear) expression and BRCA1 mutations were mainly detected in triple negative breast cancer patients, and the latter were correlated with decreased survival. Our data suggest that PARP-1, in conjunction with BRCA1, could potentially be used as (a) biomarker(s) for patients’ stratification. Abstract BRCA1 and PARP are involved in DNA damage repair pathways. BRCA1 mutations have been linked to higher likelihood of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). The aim of the study was to determine PARP-1 expression and BRCA1 mutations in circulating tumor cells (CTCs) of BC patients. Fifty patients were enrolled: 23 luminal and 27 TNBC. PARP expression in CTCs was identified by immunofluorescence. Genotyping was performed by PCR-Sanger sequencing in the same samples. PARP-1 expression was higher in luminal (61%) and early BC (54%), compared to TNBC (41%) and metastatic (33%) patients. In addition, PARP-1 distribution was mostly cytoplasmic in luminal patients (p = 0.024), whereas it was mostly nuclear in TNBC patients. In cytokeratin (CK)-positive patients, those with the CK+PARP+ phenotype had longer overall survival (OS, log-rank p = 0.046). Overall, nine mutations were detected; M1 and M2 were completely new and M4, M7 and M8 were characterized as pathogenic. M7 and M8 were predominantly found in metastatic TNBC patients (p = 0.014 and p = 0.002). Thus, PARP-1 expression and increased mutagenic burden in TNBC patients’ CTCs, could be used as an indicator to stratify patients regarding therapeutic approaches.
Association between ARID5B Polymorphisms and the Risk for Childhood B- Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia

B-cell precursor acute lymphoblastic leukemia (B-ALL) is the commonest cancer in children, comprising over 80% of the entire childhood leukemia. However, the etiology of childhood B-ALL remains poorly understood and genetic susceptibility is a major risk factor for this disease. ARID5B appeared as one of the most promising genetic markers with nearly a 3-fold increased risk of disease. Method: In this meta-analysis, a total of six candidate ARID5B polymorphisms (i.e. rs10821936, rs10994982, rs7089424, rs10821938, rs10740055, and rs7073837) which have been analyzed in at least 2 studies were included for analysis of the risk association between ARID5B polymorphisms and childhood B-ALL. Results: Pooled analysis revealed that the dominant model of these six ARID5B polymorphisms was associated with an increased risk of childhood B-ALL. However, subgroup analysis based on ethnicity suggested that only four polymorphisms (i.e. rs10821936, rs10994982, rs7089424 and rs10821938) consistently conferred increased risk to childhood B-ALL across different populations, whereas the other 2 polymorphisms (rs10740055, rs7073837) were causative to Caucasians (OR=2.01, 95% CI=1.66-2.44; OR= 1.98, 95% CI=1.69-2.31) but maybe protective for Asian (OR=0.49, 95% CI=0.22-1.09; OR=0.95, 95% CI=0.43-2.09) respectively. Conclusion: Our meta-analysis demonstrated could serve as promising markers for assessing the susceptibility risk to childhood B-ALL in both the Asian and Caucasian populations. Further development of a multigene panel inclusive of ARID5B is desirable for screening children with a higher risk of developing B-ALL and to improve clinical management of the disease.
Clinical manifestations of exuberant leishmaniasis mucocutaneous: case report

Cutaneous mucosal leishmaniasis (LM) is a chronic infection that affects the upper respiratory tract and/or buccal mucosa and is caused by Leishmania protozoan parasites. A 71-year-old male smoker received dental care at the Stomatology Service of the Hospital Metropolitano Odilon Behrens (HMOB), after various appointments with medical specialists. He presented granulomatous and erythematous lesions on the skin of the nose, on upper lip mucosa, and along the entire soft palate and uvula, as well as the destruction of the nasal septum. Due to the suspicion of leishmaniasis, an incisional biopsy was performed. Histopathological examination was performed; however, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and immunofluorescence were necessary to confirm the diagnosis of LM. The patient was treated with 27 doses of liposomal amphotericin B 20mg / Sbv / kg / day. Due to the lack of improvement, the patient was again hospitalized, and the medication was repeated adding Fluconazol 150mg, to which the patient showed significant improvement. The present case report shows an infectious lesion that is unusual in dental practice and its approach. The description of the characteristics and management, together with the pathological process, were presented.
Propagation Measurement of a Partially Open Drain: An Examination of the LOS and NLOS Sections

This paper presents fleld measurement results collected from inside a partially open drain at 2.4GHz, a frequency band that is commonly deployed for wireless local area networks. The motivation of this paper stems from the need to better understand the behaviour of radio waves in partially open drain environments, in terms of signal coverage and attenuation characteristics. Partially open drains are a common sight in several Asian countries. Their design and shapes are similar to a certain degree to that of tunnels, except that they have one less re∞ecting wall on top. This is one major difierence compared to the drainage systems in the US and Europe because the drainage systems in those regions are primarily below ground and covered. Previous research in this area has shown that the existence of the partially open drains makes up an additional channel in which the radio signal can travel. In this work, we are interested to further scrutinize the partially open drain environment in two sections, namely the line-of-sight (LOS) and non-line-of-sight (NLOS) sections using an empirical approach. Towards this end, one Data Acquisition Unit (DAU) has been assembled and tested to be used for data collection. Field measurements were taken at intervals of 30cm using two dipole antennas that were oriented for vertical-vertical polarization. In this paper, the repeatability of the measurement results that was verifled by consecutive measurements is reported. Besides, discussion and insights are ofiered to analyze the measurement results collected from inside a partially open drain at LOS and NLOS sections. The direct research output of this work is highly relevant to the wireless communications systems design in many Asian cities, where partially open drains dominate.
Beyond the interest rate pass-through: monetary policy and banks interest rates since the effective lower bound

ABSTRACT We investigate whether ECB monetary policy influences the retail interest rates in the Euro Area when the policy rate reaches the effective lower bound. We estimate a panel Error Correction Model that accounts for potential heterogeneities in the transmission of monetary policy. The analysis disentangles alternative balance-sheet policies implemented by the ECB. We find that unconventional measures have influenced banking interest rates beyond the pass-through of the current and expected policy rate. These effects are driven by liquidity provisions and by the covered bond purchase programmes. Those policies have been effective in the core and in the peripheral countries; however, the effect of purchases of covered-bond has been stronger in the periphery.
Iron Dysregulation in Mitochondrial Dysfunction and Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a devastating progressive neurodegenerative disease characterized by neuronal dysfunction, and decreased memory and cognitive function. Iron is critical for neuronal activity, neurotransmitter biosynthesis, and energy homeostasis. Iron accumulation occurs in AD and results in neuronal dysfunction through activation of multifactorial mechanisms. Mitochondria generate energy and iron is a key co-factor required for: (1) ATP production by the electron transport chain, (2) heme protein biosynthesis and (3) iron-sulfur cluster formation. Disruptions in iron homeostasis result in mitochondrial dysfunction and energetic failure. Ferroptosis, a non-apoptotic iron-dependent form of cell death mediated by uncontrolled accumulation of reactive oxygen species and lipid peroxidation, is associated with AD and other neurodegenerative diseases. AD pathogenesis is complex with multiple diverse interacting players including Aβ-plaque formation, phosphorylated tau, and redox stress. Unfortunately, clinical trials in AD based on targeting these canonical hallmarks have been largely unsuccessful. Here, we review evidence linking iron dysregulation to AD and the potential for targeting ferroptosis as a therapeutic intervention for AD.
Secure route discovery against wormhole attacks in sensor networks using mobile agents

Wireless sensor networks have many potential areas of applications. Wormhole attack is one of attack in sensor network. For wormhole attack, the attackers need not to compromise any sensor nodes, where as attacker receives packet at one location tunnels them to another location. Later, the attacker can tamper the data, messages, or selectively forward data messages to disrupt the functions of the sensor network. It place attacker in very powerful position relative to other nodes in network. This paper discusses Secure Routing protocol against Wormhole Attacks in sensor network (SeRWA). SeRWA provides secure route with false positive. We use mobile agent to reduce false positive in SeRWA protocol. The literature survey has been done on various techniques used to defense against wormhole attack, advantages and disadvantages of each also studied. Researchers have used some special hardware such as the directional antenna and the precise synchronized clock to defend the network against wormhole attacks.
A compact multidirectional UWB MIMO slot antenna with high isolation

A compact multiple‐input‐multiple‐output (MIMO) antenna with high inter‐element isolation without any decoupling network for UWB applications is proposed in this communication. Each antenna element is realized by etching the stepped slots in the ground plane. The stepped slot antenna not only reduces the footprint of the proposed antenna, but also provides directional radiation behavior which leads to high isolation among them. Each of the antenna element is radiating in one of the four cardinal directions, that results in multidirectional radiation characteristics. The prototype of the proposed antenna is fabricated and measured. The size of the compact UWB MIMO antenna is 24 × 24 × 0.8mm3. The designed antenna radiates (S11 ≤ −10 dB) in the frequency spectrum of 3 GHz–10.9 GHz, with inter‐element isolation better than 20 dB. The acceptable values of envelope correlation coefficient (ECC) and channel capacity loss (CCL) guarantees good MIMO performance. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 59:243–248, 2017
Fully Digital Control of Multilevel Cascade Inverter with Variable DC Voltage Sources

Abstract Cascaded multilevel inverters have been widely applied for the applications of high voltage and high power systems. The input power sources for a cascaded multilevel inverter requires separate dc voltage sources, and available dc sources include batteries, photovoltaic arrays and fuel cells.etc. If variations or fluctuations occur at the input voltage, the harmonic distortion of the inverter output voltage will increase. The conducting angles of switches in the conventional cascaded multilevel inverters are obtained by the use of Fourier series to minimize the harmonic distortion of output voltage. The traditional method is complex and difficult to implement on a single chip, especially when the input voltage sources can not remain constant and stable. A switching control algorithm is proposed for cascaded multilevel inverter with variable dc voltage sources. The proposed control combines the output voltage feedback and the input voltage feed-forward method to achieve dynamic control and low distortion of the inverter output voltage. Analysis, simulations and experimental results are presented to demonstrate the superiority of the proposed system.
Delineating the Molecular and Phenotypic Spectrum of the CNGA3-Related Cone Photoreceptor Disorder in Pakistani Families

Cone photoreceptor dysfunction represents a clinically heterogenous group of disorders characterized by nystagmus, photophobia, reduced central or color vision, and macular dystrophy. Here, we described the molecular findings and clinical manifestations of achromatopsia, a partial or total absence of color vision, co-segregating with three known missense variants of CNGA3 in three large consanguineous Pakistani families. Fundus examination and optical coherence tomography (OCT) imaging revealed myopia, thin retina, retinal pigment epithelial cells loss at fovea/perifovea, and macular atrophy. Combination of Sanger and whole exome sequencing revealed three known homozygous missense variants (c.827A>G, p.(Asn276Ser); c.847C>T, p.(Arg283Trp); c.1279C>T, p.(Arg427Cys)) in CNGA3, the α-subunit of the cyclic nucleotide-gated cation channel in cone photoreceptor cells. All three variants are predicted to replace evolutionary conserved amino acids, and to be pathogenic by specific in silico programs, consistent with the observed altered membrane targeting of CNGA3 in heterologous cells. Insights from our study will facilitate counseling regarding the molecular and phenotypic landscape of CNGA3-related cone dystrophies.
A Simple Adaptive Control Technique for Shunt Active Power Filter Based on Clamped-Type Multilevel Inverters

The clamped-type multilevel inverters, which include Neutral Point Clamped (NPC) and Flying Capacitor (FC) inverters, are very attractive topologies for implementing shunt Active Power Filters (APF) in medium and high power networks. This paper presents a simple and adaptive control algorithm for a three-level current-controlled NPC-based APF. The proposed control algorithm employs three independent ADAptive LINEar combiners (ADALINE) modules to provide fast, accurate, and adaptive harmonic tracking. Two Proportional Integral (PI) controllers are implemented to generate the necessary reference current components for regulating the neutral point potential and the dc-side voltage, simultaneously. Furthermore, the proposed control algorithm is expanded for the control of the FC-based APF by replacing the Neutral Point (NP) potential controller with a modified dual band hysteresis current control (HCC) to regulate the voltage of the clamping capacitors using the redundant switching states. Simulation results are provided to evaluate the performance the two proposed multifunction control algorithms. The results expose the adaptive and accurate compensation of the load harmonics as well as the fast regulation of the voltages across the dc-side capacitors under normal and dynamic conditions.
Parallel Microdispensing Method of High-Viscous Liquid Based on Electrostatic Force

Parallel microdispensing of high-viscous liquid is a fundamental task in many industrial processes. Herein, a smart printing head is developed, including the probe array, the electric control module, the contact force measurement module, and the extra force balance module. The parallel dispensing of high-viscous liquid in nL level is achieved. The interacting effect between probes on the loading process is analyzed too. According to the result, the interacting effect between probes has a strong influence on the loading process. Therefore, the strategy of serial electrical loading and parallel transfer printing is utilized. Finally, the dependency of transfer printing volume on probe size, etc., is experimentally investigated. The volume of the loaded droplet can be controlled by the lifting velocity of the probe array, and the volume of the transferred droplet can be adjusted by the size of the probe instead of the contact force. The advantage of the proposed method is to realize the highly repeatable parallel dispensing of high-viscous liquid with a relatively simple device.
ELU-Net: An Efficient and Lightweight U-Net for Medical Image Segmentation

Recent years have witnessed a growing interest in the use of U-Net and its improvement. It is one of the classic semantic segmentation networks with an encoder-decoder architecture and is widely used in medical image segmentation. In the series versions of U-Net, U-Net++ has been developed as an improved U-Net by designing an architecture with nested and dense skip connections, and U-Net 3+ has been developed as an improved U-Net++ by taking advantage of full-scale skip connections and deep supervision on full-scale aggregated feature maps. Each network architecture has its own advantages in the use of the encoder and decoder. In this paper, we propose an efficient and lightweight U-Net (ELU-Net) with deep skip connections. The deep skip connections include same- and large-scale skip connections from the encoder to fully extract the features of the encoder. In addition, the proposed ELU-Net with different loss functions is discussed to improve the effect of brain tumor learning including WT (whole tumor), TC (tumor core) and ET (enhance tumor) and a new loss function DFK is designed. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated for a brain tumor dataset used in the BraTs 2018 Challenge and liver dataset used in the ISBI LiTS 2017 Challenge.