Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Extension of the Epidemiology of Hepatitis B in Circumpolar Regions Through a Comprehensive Serologic Study in the Northwest Territories of Canada

We conducted a seroepidemiologic study of hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection among 14.198 Inuit (Eskimo), Dene (Indian), and non‐native inhabitants of the Northwest Territories (NWT. total 1982 population 47,053) between April 1983 and March 1985. Participants represented almost all of the NWT communities and included approximately half of the total indigenous population. Sera were screened for hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) and antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen (anti‐HBs) by radioimmunoassay. A total of 428 persons (3.0%) were positive for HBsAg; their mean age was 41.5 years and 68.7% were >30 years old. Anti‐HBs was detected concomitantly in 153 (35.7%) of these persons and present as a single marker in 2,943 sera (20.7%). Overall prevalence rates for HBsAg were marginally higher among Inuit than Dene (3.9% and 2.9%. respectively; P<0.05). as were rates for anti‐HBs (24.5% and 21.5%. respectively; P<0.01). Marker rates among the 2.776 participants of other ethnic groups, predominantly whites were distinctly lower (HBsAg 0.3%. anti‐HBs 8.5%) than among Inuit or Dene populations (P<0.01). The prevalence of HBsAg and anti‐HBs increased with each decade of life in all five geographic regions, but there were marked differences among the regions as well as among communities within regions. The greatest concentration of HBV markers was in the Baffin Region (36.0% positive for HBsAg or anti‐HBs). Hepatitis B e antigen (HBcAg) was detected in only 37 of 421 persons (8.8%) positive for HBsAg; most were ⩽20 years old and were clustered in a few communities with the highest HBV marker rates.
Beyond BOLD: Optimizing functional imaging in stroke populations

Blood oxygenation level‐dependent (BOLD) signal changes are often assumed to directly reflect neural activity changes. Yet the real relationship is indirect, reliant on numerous assumptions, and subject to several sources of noise. Deviations from the core assumptions of BOLD contrast functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), and their implications, have been well characterized in healthy populations, but are frequently neglected in stroke populations. In addition to conspicuous local structural and vascular changes after stroke, there are many less obvious challenges in the imaging of stroke populations. Perilesional ischemic changes, remodeling in regions distant to lesion sites, and diffuse perfusion changes all complicate interpretation of BOLD signal changes in standard fMRI protocols. Most stroke patients are also older than the young populations on which assumptions of neurovascular coupling and the typical analysis pipelines are based. We present a review of the evidence to show that the basic assumption of neurovascular coupling on which BOLD‐fMRI relies does not capture the complex changes arising from stroke, both pathological and recovery related. As a result, estimating neural activity using the canonical hemodynamic response function is inappropriate in a number of contexts. We review methods designed to better estimate neural activity in stroke populations. One promising alternative to event‐related fMRI is a resting‐state‐derived functional connectivity approach. Resting‐state fMRI is well suited to stroke populations because it makes no performance demands on patients and is capable of revealing network‐based pathology beyond the lesion site. Hum Brain Mapp 36:1620–1636, 2015. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Detecting Emergency Situations by Inferring Locations in Twitter

Most methods to detect emergency situations using Twitter rely on keywords. The problem with keywordbased methods is the need for training in specific domains for different types of events, for example: earthquakes, typhoons, terrorist attacks, tornadeos, etc. In contrast, our proposal uses the recurring mention of a country-locations in microblogging messages to identify such events without using keywords and characterize through of inter-arrival times the urgency of situation.
Contribution of a 28-kilodalton membrane protein to the virulence of Haemophilus influenzae

A Haemophilus influenzae b (Hib) membrane protein with a molecular mass of 28 kDa bound polyclonal antisera raised against a highly purified Hib fimbrial subunit. We cloned the gene encoding this protein and found that the gene was expressed in Escherichia coli. DNA sequence analysis identified an 843-bp open reading frame which predicted a 26.78-kDa protein with an amino-terminal signal sequence and a mature protein with 70% similarity to the 28-kDa lipoprotein of E. coli (F. Yu, S. Inouye, and M. Inouye, J. Biol. Chem. 261:2284, 1986). Colony blot hybridization analysis with an intergenic probe of the cloned gene demonstrated that 29 of 32 H. influenzae strains hybridize with this gene. Insertion of a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene into the open reading frame inactivated expression of the 28-kDa protein in E. coli. Isogenic Hib strains were derived by marker exchange mutagenesis to generate mutants which no longer expressed the 28-kDa protein as recognized with Western immunoblot analysis. There was no difference in the rate of nasopharyngeal colonization of infant rats or monkeys by the isogenic mutants which lacked the 28-kDa protein compared with colonization by the wild-type strain. In contrast, the frequency of invasion and density of bacteremia in infant rats caused by the isogenic mutants were reduced relative to those caused by the wild-type Hib strain. We conclude that this 28-kDa outer membrane protein aids transepithelial invasion of type b strains but is not essential.
Design issues and insights of multi-fin bulk silicon FinFETs

Multi-fin bulk silicon FinFET-based design issues and implications using 3D numerical simulation are presented for the first time. In order to gain sufficient drive current of each transistor, multi-fin layout is inevitable due to limited aspect ratio or fin height. However, how the multi-fin design impacts the circuit performance needs to be taken into account. Because of non-planar nature of the fin, conventional concept of multi-finger design in bulk CMOS technology does not apply. We found an extra leakage path underneath the fin spacing between source and drain. Such impact can be mitigated by additional substrate doping and proper gate-to-substrate isolation. Based on the proposed design window at a tight pitch control, good performance can be achieved while meeting leakage current requirement.
Src Kinase Activity Is Essential for Osteoclast Function*

Deletion of the c-src gene impairs osteoclast bone resorbing activity, causing osteopetrosis. Although it has been concluded that restoring only the Src adaptor function at least partly rescues the cell attachment and skeletal phenotypes, the contribution of Src kinase activity remains controversial. Src forms a complex with Pyk2 and Cbl after adhesion-induced stimulation of αVβ3 integrin. To demonstrate the importance of the Pyk2-Src association in osteoclasts and to distinguish the contributions of the Src adaptor and kinase activities in cytoskeletal organization and osteoclast function, we expressed mutants of Src and Pyk2 in osteoclasts using adenovirus vectors. Eliminating the Src-binding site on Pyk2 (Pyk2Y402F) markedly inhibited bone resorption by osteoclast-like cells, whereas kinase-dead Pyk2 had little effect. Kinase-dead Src, unlike kinase-dead Pyk2, markedly inhibited the bone-resorbing activity of wild type osteoclasts and failed to significantly restore bone-resorbing activity to Src-/- osteoclast-like cells. Activation of Src kinase by overexpressing kinase-dead Csk failed to reverse the inhibitory effect of Pyk2Y402F, suggesting that osteoclastic bone resorption requires both c-Src kinase activity and the targeting of Src kinase by Pyk2. Src-catalyzed phosphorylation of Cbl on Tyr-731 is reported to induce the activation and recruitment of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase to the cell membrane in a signaling pathway that is critical for osteoclast function. Expressing the CblY731F mutant in osteoclasts markedly reduced their bone resorbing activity, suggesting that phosphorylation of CblY731 and the subsequent recruitment and activation of phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase may be critical signaling events downstream of Src in osteoclasts.
Evaluation of arterial compliance on pulse transit time using photoplethysmography

Pulse wave velocity has been widely used as an index of arterial distensibility. Peripheral pulse transit time (PTT) is inversely related to pulse wave velocity. The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity of PTT on the monitoring of arterial distensibility. We evaluated the accuracy of computerized measurement of peripheral PTT using an algorithm based on the time interval between the peak of R wave of ECG and maximal slope point in pulse. A experimental results were presented as a graph using spline interpolation. Application software was implemented in C++ as a window-based program. The increase of heart rate and pulse transit time reflect the hemodynamics changes by skin temperature. It is of great interest to evaluate in large populations the therapeutic and epidemiological applications of an arterial parameter as evaluated by peripheral PTT.
3D isotropic turbo spin-echo intermediate-weighted sequence with refocusing control in knee imaging: comparison study with 3D isotropic fast-field echo sequence

Background Three-dimensional (3D) turbo spin-echo (TSE) images have been used in imaging of the extremities and comparable diagnostic performance to two-dimensional (2D) TSE images has been reported in several studies. However, comparison of the 3D isotropic TSE intermediate-weighted sequence and 3D FFE sequence in terms of image quality has not been investigated. Purpose To compare the image quality of a 3D isotropic TSE intermediate-weighted sequence with refocusing control (volume isotropic turbo spin echo acquisition [VISTA]) and a 3D isotropic fast-field echo (FFE) sequence of the knee joint. Material and Methods 3.0 T knee MRI with VISTA and 3D FFE sequences was performed in 10 healthy volunteers (3 men, 7 women; age range 26–30 years). Two radiologists with specialties in the musculoskeletal system assessed tissue contrast between the fluid-cruciate ligament (F-L), fluid-meniscus (F-M), and fluid-cartilage (F-C) based on a 4-point scale (1, poor; 2, fair; 3, good; and 4, excellent). Statistical analysis for inter-observer agreement and differences in grades in tissue contrast between VISTA and 3D FFE images (Wilcoxon signed-rank) were performed. For a quantitative analysis, the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was obtained by imaging phantom and noise-only image. Image contrast ratios (CRs) were calculated between F-L, F-M, and F-C in volunteer images of VISTA and 3D FFE and compared statistically with a paired t-test. Results Based on qualitative analysis, VISTA had statistically superior grades of tissue contrast in F-L (P < 0.001) and F-M (P < 0.001). 3D FFE had superior but not statistically significant (P = 0.317) grades in F-C. Based on quantitative analysis, the SNR of the phantom imaging was higher in VISTA than that in 3D FFE (28.18 vs. 14.90). VISTA had superior CRs in F-L (P < 0.001) and F-M (P < 0.001). 3D FFE had superior CR in F-C (P = 0.038). Conclusion The VISTA sequence was superior in tissue contrast between F-M and F-L, and 3D FFE was superior in tissue contrast between F-C, subjectively and quantitatively.
Comparing the Pilates method with no exercise or lumbar stabilization for pain and functionality in patients with chronic low back pain: systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: To perform a systematic review with meta-analyses that evaluates the effectiveness of the Pilates method on the pain and functionality outcome in adults with non-specific chronic low back pain. Data sources: The search was performed in the following databases: Medline, Embase, AMED, Cinahl, Lilacs, Scielo, SportDiscus, ProQuest, Web of Science, PEDro, Academic Search Premier and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials from 1950 to 2011; the following keywords were used: ‘Pilates’, ‘Pilates-based’, ‘back exercises’, ‘exercise therapy’, ‘low back pain’, ‘back pain’ and ‘backache. ’ Review methods: The inclusion criteria were studies that assessed the effects of the Pilates method on patients with chronic low back pain. Results: Five studies met the inclusion criteria. The total number of patients was 71 in the Pilates group and 68 in the control group. Pilates exercise did not improve functionality (standardized mean difference (SMD = –1.34; 95% confidence interval (CI) −2.80, 0.11; P = 0.07) or pain between Pilates and control groups (SMD = –1.99; 95% CI −4.35, 0.37; P = 0.10). Pilates and lumbar stabilization exercises presented no significant difference in functionality (mean difference (MD) = –0.31; 95% CI −1.02, 0.40; P = 0.39) or pain (MD = –0.31; 95% CI −1.02, 0.40; P = 0.39). Conclusion: The Pilates method did not improve functionality and pain in patients who have low back pain when compared with control and lumbar stabilization exercise groups.
ADS-Based Guidelines for Thinned Planar Arrays

We propose an analytical technique based on almost difference sets (ADSs) for thinning planar arrays with well controlled sidelobes. The method allows one to synthesize bidimensional arrangements with peak sidelobe levels (PSLs) predictable and deducible from the knowledge of the array aperture, the filling factor, and the autocorrelation function of the ADS at hand. The numerical validation, concerned with both small and very large apertures, points out that the expected PSL values are significantly below those of random arrays and comparable with those from different sets (DSs) although obtainable in a wider range of configurations.
Use case visual Bag-of-Words techniques for camera based identity document classification

Nowadays, automatic identity document recognition, including passport and driving license recognition, is at the core of many applications within the administrative and service sectors, such as police, hospitality, car renting, etc. In former years, the document information was manually extracted whereas today this data is recognized automatically from images obtained by flat-bed scanners. Yet, since these scanners tend to be expensive and voluminous, companies in the sector have recently turned their attention to cheaper, small and yet computationally powerful scanners: the mobile devices. The document identity recognition from mobile images enclose several new difficulties w.r. t traditional scanned images, such as the loss of a controlled background, perspective, blurring, etc. In this paper we present a real application for identity document classification of images taken from mobile devices. This classification process is of extreme importance since a prior knowledge of the document type and origin strongly facilitates the subsequent information extraction. The proposed method is based on a traditional Bagof-Words in which we have taken into consideration several key aspects to enhance recognition rate. The method performance has been studied on three datasets containing more than 2000 images from 129 different document classes.
Transmission Effect between PRC International Trade Credit and Its Monetary Policy

Credit rationing is an important manifestation in the monetary policy transmission. This paper focuses on the analysis of the transmission effect of China's international trade credit on the monetary policy in the foreign trade domain, and with empirical evidences we come to the conclusion that the international trade credit assets is the Granger cause of export, and still further that the volume of international credit assets is positively correlated with exports. Likewise, international trade credit liabilities and imports are in positive correlation as well; yet they are reciprocal Granger causations to one another. The conclusions above can be applied to realize the balance of China's international payments via credit rationing.
Limited efficacy of pentoxifylline as anti‐inflammatory agent in experimental pneumococcal meningitis

Dexamethasone appears to show some adverse side‐effects as adjunctive anti‐inflammatory agent in bacterial meningitis. For this reason, we tested the anti‐inflammatory and neuroprotective effect of pentoxifylline administered 15 min before starting antibiotic treatment with ceftriaxone (n = 10) versus antibiotic therapy alone (n = 9) in the rabbit model of pneumococcal meningitis. Pentoxifylline lowered the medians of leucocyte density, tumour necrosis factor‐alpha (TNF‐α) and lactate in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), but only leucocyte migration into the subarachnoid space was significantly inhibited 8 h after initiation of therapy (P = 0.01). CSF protein, brain water content, and the entry of ceftriaxone into CSF were not influenced by pentoxifylline. The density of neuronal apoptoses in the dentate gyrus was slightly lower in animals receiving pentoxifylline than in those treated with ceftriaxone only. The median concentration of neuron‐specific enolase in CSF was lower in the pentoxifylline‐treated group, but the difference was not significant. In conclusion, pentoxifylline showed some anti‐inflammatory activity in pneumococcal meningitis, but the substance failed significantly to reduce neuronal damage.
Characterization and Regional Distribution of α2‐Adrenoceptors in Postmortem Human Brain Using the Full Agonist [3H]UK 14304

Abstract The full agonist [3H]UK 14304 [5‐bromo‐6‐(2‐im‐idazolin‐2‐yl‐amino)‐quinoxaline] was used to characterize α2‐adrenoceptors in postmortem human brain. The binding at 25°C was rapid (t1/2, 4.6 min) and reversible (t1/2, 14.1 min), and the Kd determined from the kinetic studies was 0.48 nM In frontal cortex, the rank order of potency of adrenergic drugs competing with [3H]UK 14304 or [3H]clonidine showed the specificity for an α2A‐adrenoceptor: UK 14304 ≅ yohimbine ≅ oxymetazoline ≅ clonidine > phentolamine ≅ (–)‐adrenaline > idazoxan ≅ (–) ‐noradrenaline > phenylephrine > (±)‐adrenaline ≫ corynanthine > prazosin ≫ (±)‐propranolol. GTP induced a threefold decrease in the affinity of [3H]UK 14304, with no alteration in the maximum number of binding sites, suggesting that the radioligand labelled the high‐affinity state of the α2‐adreno‐ceptor. In the frontal cortex, analyses of saturation curves indicated the existence of a single population of noninter‐acting sites for [3H]UK 14304 (Kd= 0.35 ± 0.13 nM; Bmax= 74 ± 9 fmol/mg of protein). In other brain regions (hypothalamus, hippocampus, cerebellum, brainstem, caudate nucleus, and amygdala) the Bmax ranged from 68 ± 7 to 28 ± 4 fmol/mg of protein. No significant changes in the Kd values were found in the different regions examined. The binding of [3H]UK 14304 was not affected by age, sex or postmortem delay. [3H]UK 14304 should be a useful tool to assess brain α2‐adrenoceptor density in a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders.
International trends and patterns of prostate cancer incidence and mortality

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in western men, and incidence is rising rapidly in most countries, including low‐risk populations. Age‐adjusted incidence and mortality rates from 15 and 13 countries between 1973–77 and 1988–92, respectively, were compared to provide leads for future analytic studies. Large increases in both incidence and mortality rates of prostate cancer were seen for all countries. For incidence, increases were more pronounced in the United States, Canada, Australia, France and the Asian countries, while the increases in medium‐risk countries were moderate. Increases in incidence ranged from 25%–114%, 24%–55% and 15%–104% in high‐, medium‐ and low‐risk countries, respectively. Mortality rates rose more rapidly in Asian countries than in high‐risk countries. Substantial differences in incidence and mortality across countries were evident, with U.S. blacks having rates that were 50–60 times higher than the rates in Shanghai, China. Increasing incidence rates in the United States and Canada are likely to be due in part to the widespread use of transurethral resection of the prostate and prostate‐specific antigen testing, while increases in the Asian countries are probably related to westernization in these low‐risk populations. The large disparities in incidence between high‐ and low‐risk countries may be due to a combination of genetic and environmental factors. Future studies are needed to examine gene‐gene and gene‐environment interactions in various countries concurrently to shed light on the etiology of prostate cancer and to help elucidate reasons for the large differences in risk between populations. Int. J. Cancer 85:60–67, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
A feature based method for real time vehicle detection and classification from on-road videos

Vision Based vehicle detection and classification has become an active area of research for intelligent transportation system. But this task is very difficult and challenging due to the dynamic condition of roads. Many solutions have been given by the researchers to overcome these challenges. Some of them are giving good performance but computationally highly expensive and fail in some circumstances. In the proposed method, a feature based cost effective detection and classification method is proposed that is suitable for real time applications, provide satisfactory accuracy and computationally cheap. The proposed method uses haar-like features of the images and AdaBoost classifier for detection which provides a very fast detection rate with high accuracy. To reduce inconsiderable false positive rate generated by this method, we propose to use two virtual detection lines (VDL) that reduces the false positive rate. In order to predict the class of a vehicle, a feature based method is proposed. HOG, SIFT, SURF all are well represented feature for image classification. The existing feature based vehicle classification methods lack accuracy because of using those features inefficiently. In order to reduce those lacking, we propose to use bag of visual words (BOVW) model for classification. BOVW model also needs a lower computation time and resources. As the proposed method aims to be implemented in real time, we propose to use SURF feature for BOVW which is faster to compute and well described for recognizing an object. The BOVW then used for identifying the vehicle's class by multi class SVM classifier. Error correcting output code (ECOC) framework is used to achieve multi class prediction with SVM. Extensive experiments have been carried out on different traffic data of varying environments to evaluate the detection and classification performance of the proposed method. Experiment results demonstrate that the proposed method achieves a significant improvement in classification of heterogeneous vehicles in terms of accuracy with a considerable execution time as compared to other methods.