Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
4DCT Simulation With Synchronized Contrast Injection in Liver SBRT Patients

Background/Purpose: Delivering stereotactic body radiotherapy for liver metastases remains a challenge because of respiratory motion and poor visibility without intravenous contrast. The purpose of this article is to describe a novel and simple computed tomography (CT) simulation process of integrating timed intravenous contrast that could overcome the uncertainty of target delineation. Methods and Results: The simulation involves two 4-dimensional CT (4DCT) scans. The first scan only encompasses the immediate region of the tumor and surrounding tissue, which reduces the 4DCT scan time so that it can be optimally timed with intravenous contrast injection. The second 4DCT scan covers a larger volume and is used as the primary CT data set for dose calculation, as well as patient setup verification on the treatment unit. The combination of the two 4DCT scans allows us to optimally visualize liver metastases over all phases of the breathing cycle while simultaneously acquiring a long enough 4DCT data set that is suitable for planning and patient setup verification. Conclusion: This simulation technique allows for a better target definition when treating liver metastases, without being invasive.
Speech enhancement using modified IMCRA and OMLSA methods

In this paper we present a speech enhancement method in highly non-stationary noise environments based on modified Improved Minimal Controlled Recursive Averaging (IMCRA) method and Optimal Modified Minimum Mean-Square Error Log-Spectral Amplitude (OMLSA) method. The original OMLSA method, the spectral gain function, which minimizes the mean-square error of the log-spectral amplitude, is obtained as a weighted geometric mean of the hypothetical gain associated with the presence uncertainty. Whereas in IMCRA method, noise estimation is given by averaging past spectral value of noisy speech using a smoothing parameter that is adjusted by speech presence probability in frequency domain. A new method is proposed, in which the minimum spectral power value of noisy speech is adjusted by past speech presence probability. In addition, a noise estimation algorithm is proposed for highly non-stationary noise environment. The noise estimate is updated by averaging the noise spectral power estimate of IMCRA method with the past noise spectral power. Evaluations under various environment conditions, especially highly non-stationary noise environment, confirm that the modification of IMCRA and OMLSA method improved the speech quality.
An advanced interpolation approach for photoacoustic clutter reduction based on a linear plane wave scatter model

In clinical photoacoustic (PA) imaging, clutter artifacts make the interpretation of reconstruction results difficult. These artifacts arise from reflections that mainly originate in strong PA sources on the tissue surface. In our previously presented clutter reduction approach, plane wave ultrasound (US) measurements from multiple angles are incorporated to eliminate reflections in the photoacoustic measurement data, according to a linear scatter model in the frequency domain. This method has already been shown to reduce the amount of clutter successfully. However, a high number of plane wave transmissions under different angles is required to yield satisfactory results. In this contribution, we exploit redundancies in plane wave ultrasound measurements by applying an advanced interpolation based on diffraction theory. Accordingly, the number of required angles can significantly be reduced, which is as a step towards real time capability.
Inhibition of 11b-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 1 by carbenoxolone affects glucose homeostasis and obesity in db ⁄dbmice

1. One of the major causes of metabolic syndrome is elevated 11b-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 1 (11b-HSD1) in the liver and adipose tissue. High 11b-HSD1 expression contributes significantly to the diabetic phenotype in db ⁄db mice. The purpose of the present study was to test the effect of the pharmacological inhibition of 11b-HSD1 inhibition by carbenoxolone in db ⁄db mice, a genetic model of diabetes. 2. Inhibition of 11b-HSD1 by carbenoxolone was evaluated in liver homogenates obtained from untreated mice. At 0.4, 0.8, 1.6 and 3.2 lmol ⁄L, carbenoxolone reduced the conversion of cortisone to cortisol by 21%, 48%, 82% and 95%, respectively. 3. In another series of experiments in which female db ⁄dbmice were dosed orally with carbenoxolone (10, 25 and 50 mg ⁄kg, twice daily) for 10 days, dose-dependent decreases were observed in 11b-HSD1 activity in the brain, adipose and liver. In the case of 10 mg ⁄kg carbenoxolone, the effects were not significant. In addition, the bodyweight of female db ⁄db mice was reduced by 10% and 13% following treatment with 10 and 50 mg ⁄kg carbenoxolone, respectively. Carbenoxolone treatment dose-dependently improved fat mass, energy expenditure, the serum lipid profile, serum leptin and insulin and glucose tolerance. Furthermore, 50 mg ⁄kg carbenoxolone reduced both phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase (PEPCK) and glucose-6-phosphatase (G6Pase) activity in the liver by 75% and 52%, respectively. These decreases were associated with increased glucokinase protein expression and activity in the liver. 4. Carbenoxolone inhibition of 11b-HSD1 in the liver, adipose and brain significantly improves the symptoms of metabolic syndrome in db ⁄db mice. These improvements can be attributed to increased energy expenditure, decreased activity of the gluconeogenic enzymes PEPCK and G6Pase in the liver and improved glucokinase function in the liver and pancreas.
Real Time Virtual Mirror Using Kinect

— This paper proposes a real time image processing approach to enable users to try virtual garments on in front of a virtual mirror. The user’s hand motions select the clothes from a list on screen. Afterwards a virtual representation of the user wearing the selected virtual clothes appears in the virtual mirror. To create a more realistic effect, the system takes into account different images of the clothes according to different human poses and movements. Additionally, we developed an algorithm for matching up all motions between the virtual clothes and the human being. In this study, we benefit from the Microsoft Kinect SDK in order to follow the user’s movements, coordinate the suitable clothe try-ons and provide depth sort effect to the human body and the clothes
Staphylococcus sciuri associated to subcutaneous abscess and dermatitis in ICR mouse

Subcutaneous mass was found in ICR mouse during daily health observation in the breeding colony of the National Laboratory Animal Center, Mahidol University, Thailand. The animal was subsequently culled and humanely sacrificed due to the institutional preventive medicine policy. Microbiological and histopathological studies were performed for definitive diagnosis. The results described that the case was subcutaneous abscess and chronic dermatitis in association with Staphylococcus sciuri infection without epizootic and mortality. This was determined as the first reported case in Thailand occurring in mouse. Reproductive stress and abrasion skin wound may be the predisposing factors. Although pathogenic staphylococci in laboratory animals are limited to S. aureus and S. xylosus, S. sciuri opportunistic properties, natural history, and heterogeneity should not be forgotten.
Comparison of two thermal circuit models for HST calculation of oil-immersed transformers

Oil-immersed transformers are key components in power systems. The inordinate temperature rise in oil-immersed transformers, featured by hot-spot temperature (HST), accelerates thermal degradation in insulation. This phenomenon may result in reduction of service age or thermal breakdowns of transformers. HST is also an important parameter to determine the optimum load ability of transformers. A procedure to calculate HST with parameters, including load current, ambient temperature, and top oil temperature is recommended by IEEE and IEC. The recommended method has been proved to be effective. This paper presents two equivalent thermal circuit models for transformers, revealing the relationship between HST and featured oil temperatures, which are the top oil temperature (TOT) and the bottom oil temperature (BOT). The calculation results of the thermal models are compared with measured data obtained from an ONAN, 100 kVA and 5 kV test transformer equipped with temperature probes.
Pharmacokinetics of Felbamate in Pediatric and Adult Beagle Dogs

Summary: The relative bioavailability and pharmacokinetics of felbamate (FBM) after a single oral dose and after 10 once‐daily oral doses of 60 mg/kg were investigated in adult and pediatric dogs of both sexes. The pediatric and adult dogs were aged 4–6 weeks and 1–2 years, respectively. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was performed on the bioavailability parameters among all groups and between the first and last doses. No sex‐related differences in bioavailability and pharmacokinetic parameters were observed. The bioavailability of FBM in pediatric dogs was significantly less as compared with that in adult dogs. Rapid overall elimination of the drug in pediatric dogs appears to be responsible for the lower bioavailability. The bioavailability of FBM after the last dose was also significantly lower than after the first dose for both age groups. No major differences in the rate constant of FBM absorption (ka) and volume of distribution at steady state (VSS) were observed between the two age groups. As with other clinically useful antiepileptic drugs (AEDs), higher doses of FBM may be required in pediatric populations to achieve optimum drug levels, assuming that age‐related changes in FBM disposition will also be confirmed in humans.
Psychopathology, Social and Cognitive Functioning in a Hostel for Homeless Women

Background This study surveyed all residents in a hostel for homeless women. Demographic data, and information on past and present psychiatric and social morbidity and current and premorbid cognitive functioning were collected. Method A four week prevalence study using: SCID–PD; a semi-structured interview; GHQ; SBS; Manchester Scale; MMSE; and NART; the data were analysed using SPSS. Results The women originated from across the social spectrum and disruption of early family life was common. Fifty per cent had a ‘severe mental illness’ and most were not receiving drug treatment. High levels of active psychotic symptoms were present. Women with psychosis had suffered a greater intellectual decline from their premorbid levels of functioning than those without psychosis. Conclusions The study affirmed findings of earlier studies employing case-series methodology. Women with high levels of psychiatric morbidity and social dysfunction were being managed by care workers in a way that may promote stability rather than a drift into street-life.
Warehousing and Analyzing Streaming Data Quality Information

The development of integrative IS architectures focuses typically on solving problems related to the functionality of the system. It is attempted to design optimally flexible interfaces that can achieve the most agile architecture. The quality of the data that will be exchanged across these interfaces is often disregarded (implicitly or explicitly). This results in distributed applications which are functionally correct but cannot be deployed due to the low quality of the data involved. In order to avoid wrong business decisions due to ‘dirty data’, quality characteristics have to be captured, processed, and provided to the respective business task. However, the issue of how to efficiently provide applications with information about data quality is still an open research problem. Our approach tackles the problems posed by data quality deficiencies by presenting a novel concept to stream and warehouse data together with its describing data quality information.
In the Land of the Free, Interdependent Action Undermines Motivation

Today’s most pressing social challenges require people to recognize their shared fate and work together—to think and act interdependently. In the three studies reported here, we found that appeals for increased interdependence may undermine the very motivation they seek to inspire. We examined the hypothesis that invoking interdependent action undermines motivation for chronically independent European Americans but not for bicultural Asian Americans who are both chronically independent and chronically interdependent. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrated that priming interdependent rather than independent action undermined European Americans’ motivation to perform challenging mental and physical tasks. Study 3 showed that framing an appeal for environmental sustainability in terms of interdependent rather than independent action led to decreased motivation and resource allocation among European Americans. Motivation was not undermined for Asian Americans, which reveals how behavior is divergently shaped, in the land of the free, by foundational sociocultural schemas of independence and interdependence. This research has the novel implication that it may be necessary to invoke independent behaviors in order to successfully motivate interdependence.
Estimating sampling biases and measurement uncertainties of AIRS/AMSU‐A temperature and water vapor observations using MERRA reanalysis

We use MERRA (Modern Era Retrospective‐Analysis for Research Applications) temperature and water vapor data to estimate the sampling biases of climatologies derived from the AIRS/AMSU‐A (Atmospheric Infrared Sounder/Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit‐A) suite of instruments. We separate the total sampling bias into temporal and instrumental components. The temporal component is caused by the AIRS/AMSU‐A orbit and swath that are not able to sample all of time and space. The instrumental component is caused by scenes that prevent successful retrievals. The temporal sampling biases are generally smaller than the instrumental sampling biases except in regions with large diurnal variations, such as the boundary layer, where the temporal sampling biases of temperature can be ± 2 K and water vapor can be 10% wet. The instrumental sampling biases are the main contributor to the total sampling biases and are mainly caused by clouds. They are up to 2 K cold and > 30% dry over midlatitude storm tracks and tropical deep convective cloudy regions and up to 20% wet over stratus regions. However, other factors such as surface emissivity and temperature can also influence the instrumental sampling bias over deserts where the biases can be up to 1 K cold and 10% wet. Some instrumental sampling biases can vary seasonally and/or diurnally. We also estimate the combined measurement uncertainties of temperature and water vapor from AIRS/AMSU‐A and MERRA by comparing similarly sampled climatologies from both data sets. The measurement differences are often larger than the sampling biases and have longitudinal variations.
Lidocaine carboxymethylcellulose with gelatine co-polymer hydrogel delivery by combined microneedle and ultrasound

Abstract A study that combines microneedles (MNs) and sonophoresis pre-treatment was explored to determine their combined effects on percutaneous delivery of lidocaine from a polymeric hydrogel formulation. Varying ratios of carboxymethylcellulose and gelatine (NaCMC/gel ranges 1:1.60–1:2.66) loaded with lidocaine were prepared and characterized for zeta potential and particle size. Additionally, variations in the formulation drying techniques were explored during the formulation stage. Ex vivo permeation studies using Franz diffusion cells measured lidocaine permeation through porcine skin after pre-treatment with stainless steel MNs and 20 kHz sonophoresis for 5-and 10-min durations. A stable formulation was related to a lower gelatine mass ratio because of smaller mean particle sizes and high zeta potential. Lidocaine permeability in skin revealed some increases in permeability from combined MN and ultrasound pre-treatment studies. Furthermore, up to 4.8-fold increase in the combined application was observed compared with separate pre-treatments after 30 min. Sonophoresis pre-treatment alone showed insignificant enhancement in lidocaine permeation during the initial 2 h period. MN application increased permeability at a time of 0.5 h for up to ∼17 fold with an average up to 4 fold. The time required to reach therapeutic levels of lidocaine was decreased to less than 7 min. Overall, the attempted approach promises to be a viable alternative to conventional lidocaine delivery methods involving painful injections by hypodermic needles. The mass transfer effects were fairly enhanced and the lowest amount of lidocaine in skin was 99.7% of the delivered amount at a time of 3 h for lidocaine NaCMC/GEL 1:2.66 after low-frequency sonophoresis and MN treatment.
A software process ontology as a common vocabulary about software processes

Nowadays, several process quality models and standards, such as ISO/IEC 12207 and CMMI, are used to guide software organisations in their software process improvement efforts. Unfortunately, the vocabulary used by those models and by software organisations is diverse. This leads to misunderstanding and problems related to the joint use of different process quality models. In this paper, we present a software process ontology, which aims to establish a common vocabulary for software organisations to talk about software processes. A mapping between the concepts presented in the ontology and the concepts of some of these standards is also done in order to help software organisations to use those standards in their software process improvement efforts.
Burden in Caregivers of Cognitively Impaired Older Adults Living in the Community: Methodological Issues and Determinants

Considerable burden is reported by informal caregivers of older individuals with cognitive impairment. Significant progress in the understanding of determinants of this burden has been achieved. However, further progress could be attained if we considered important methodological issues that may have limited our understanding of caregiver burden. These issues include subgroups of care recipients and caregivers, measurement issues, research design, and statistical techniques. Fifty-three studies published between 1980 and 1997 (inclusive) that focused on caregiver burden were abstracted to determine the extent to which the methodological issues discussed above were considered. Overall, we found considerable variability among the studies surveyed. Further understanding of the caregiving process and reductions in caregiver burden will depend on the attention to methodological issues and understanding of burden across the whole caregiving career.
Nepmucin, a novel HEV sialomucin, mediates L-selectin–dependent lymphocyte rolling and promotes lymphocyte adhesion under flow

Lymphocyte trafficking to lymph nodes (LNs) is initiated by the interaction between lymphocyte L-selectin and certain sialomucins, collectively termed peripheral node addressin (PNAd), carrying specific carbohydrates expressed by LN high endothelial venules (HEVs). Here, we identified a novel HEV-associated sialomucin, nepmucin (mucin not expressed in Peyer's patches [PPs]), that is expressed in LN HEVs but not detectable in PP HEVs at the protein level. Unlike conventional sialomucins, nepmucin contains a single V-type immunoglobulin (Ig) domain and a mucin-like domain. Using materials affinity-purified from LN lysates with soluble L-selectin, we found that two higher molecular weight species of nepmucin (75 and 95 kD) were decorated with oligosaccharides that bind L-selectin as well as an HEV-specific MECA-79 monoclonal antibody. Electron microscopic analysis showed that nepmucin accumulates in the extended luminal microvillus processes of LN HEVs. Upon appropriate glycosylation, nepmucin supported lymphocyte rolling via its mucin-like domain under physiological flow conditions. Furthermore, unlike most other sialomucins, nepmucin bound lymphocytes via its Ig domain, apparently independently of lymphocyte function–associated antigen 1 and very late antigen 4, and promoted shear-resistant lymphocyte binding in combination with intercellular adhesion molecule 1. Collectively, these results suggest that nepmucin may serve as a dual-functioning PNAd in LN HEVs, mediating both lymphocyte rolling and binding via different functional domains.
Evaluation of the Degradation of Generator Stator Ground Wall Insulation Under Multistresses Aging

The actual stator bars of an 18 kV/300 MW generator were used for accelerated multistress aging tests to investigate the degradation of ground insulation. An aging system with combined stresses including thermal, electrical, mechanical vibration, and thermomechanical factors was used to test the aging of stator bar specimens. The nondestructive parameters including partial discharge (PD) quantities and dissipation factor parameters were measured during aging test in order to evaluate the degradation of stator ground wall insulation. At the end of the aging test, an AC breakdown test was performed on the bars in order to obtain the remaining breakdown voltage (BDV) after their nondestructive data had been measured. The changes of nondestructive parameters indicated that the degradation of ground wall insulation. For example, the changes of skewness of indicated the shape of voids in ground insulation changes from flat to narrow, and even exhibits treeing, which is dangerous to insulation because it shortens the effective distance of insulation between high voltage and the ground. The results obtained are summarized as follows. The BDV data fit a Weibull distribution. The correlation between the dissipation factor, the PD parameters, and the breakdown voltage were analyzed, among which the skewness of the average discharge had the most correlation with breakdown voltage.
Difficulties in Diagnosing Group O Human Immunodeficiency Virus Type 1 Acute Primary Infection

ABSTRACT We report a rare case of acute human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) type 1 group O infection in a French Caucasian woman. Her sexual partner was secondarily diagnosed with HIV infection, and transmission was confirmed by phylogenetic analysis. The unequal performance of many of the serologic and molecular assays commercially available leads to delays in diagnosis and affects patient management.
Putting Things in Context: Situated Language Understanding for Human-Robot Dialog(ue)

In this paper we present a model of language contextualization for spatially situated dialogue systems including service robots. The contextualization model addresses the problem of location sensitivity in language understanding for human-robot interaction. Our model is based on the application of situation-sensitive contextualization functions to a dialogue move’s semantic roles – both for the resolution of specified content and the augmentation of empty roles in cases of ellipsis. Unlike the previous use of default values, this methodology provides a context-dependent discourse process which reduces unnecessary artificial clarificatory statements. We detail this model and report on a number of user studies conducted with a simulated robotic system based on this model.