Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Colonoscopic withdrawal times and adenoma detection during screening colonoscopy.

BACKGROUND Colonoscopy is commonly used to screen for neoplasia. To assess the performance of screening colonoscopy in everyday practice, we conducted a study of the rates of detection of adenomas and the amount of time taken to withdraw the colonoscope among endoscopists in a large community-based practice. METHODS During a 15-month period, 12 experienced gastroenterologists performed 7882 colonoscopies, of which 2053 were screening examinations in subjects who had not previously undergone colonoscopy. We recorded the numbers, sizes, and histologic features of the neoplastic lesions detected during screening, as well as the duration of insertion and of withdrawal of the colonoscope during the procedure. We compared rates of detection of neoplastic lesions among gastroenterologists who had mean colonoscopic withdrawal times of less than 6 minutes with the rates of those who had mean withdrawal times of 6 minutes or more. According to experts, 6 minutes is the minimum length of time to allow adequate inspection during instrument withdrawal. RESULTS Neoplastic lesions (mostly adenomatous polyps) were detected in 23.5% of screened subjects. There were large differences among gastroenterologists in the rates of detection of adenomas (range of the mean number of lesions per subject screened, 0.10 to 1.05; range of the percentage of subjects with adenomas, 9.4 to 32.7%) and in their times of withdrawal of the colonoscope from the cecum to the anus (range, 3.1 to 16.8 minutes for procedures during which no polyps were removed). As compared with colonoscopists with mean withdrawal times of less than 6 minutes, those with mean withdrawal times of 6 minutes or more had higher rates of detection of any neoplasia (28.3% vs. 11.8%, P<0.001) and of advanced neoplasia (6.4% vs. 2.6%, P=0.005). CONCLUSIONS In this large community-based gastroenterology practice, we observed greater rates of detection of adenomas among endoscopists who had longer mean times for withdrawal of the colonoscope. The effect of variation in withdrawal times on lesion detection and the prevention of colorectal cancer in the context of widespread colonoscopic screening is not known. Ours was a preliminary study, so the generalizability and implications for clinical practice need to be determined by future studies.
Nitric oxide gas decreases endothelin-1 mRNA in cultured pulmonary artery endothelial cells.

Inhaled nitric oxide gas (iNO) vasodilates the pulmonary circulation. The effective "dose" of iNO for chronic treatment of pulmonary hypertension is unknown. Increased abundance of pulmonary mRNA for preproendothelin-1 (ppET-1) with its associated increase in endothelin-1 (ET-1) could contribute to the development of both clinical and experimental pulmonary hypertension. The benefit of iNO therapy may be from inhibition of ET-1 production. The present study was designed to compare the effects of two therapeutic concentrations of NO gas, 10 parts per million (p.p.m.) and 100 p.p.m. on the steady-state level of mRNA for ppET-1 and nitric oxide synthase (NOS III), in cultured bovine pulmonary artery endothelial cells. Uptake of NO gas was assessed by measurement of nitrite anions in the medium. The mRNA for ppET-1 and NOS III was determined by semiquantitative reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). After 4 h exposure to 100 p.p.m. NO in air, nitrite anions levels were 1.6 microM in the endothelial cell media as opposed to 0.23 microM with 10 p.p.m. NO. The levels were 0.02 microM in control cells exposed to air alone. Exposure to 100 p.p.m. NO reduced the steady state levels of mRNA for ppET-1, but not NOSIII mRNA levels. By comparison 10 p.p.m. NO did not affect levels of either mRNA.
A Comprehensive Isolated Farsi/Arabic Character Database for Handwritten OCR Research

This paper presents a new comprehensive database for isolated offline handwritten Farsi/Arabic numbers and characters for use in optical character recognition research. The database is freely available for academic use. So far no such a freely database in Farsi language is available. Grayscale images of 52,380 characters and 17,740 numerals are included. Each image was scanned from Iranian school entrance exam forms during the years 2004-2006 at 300 dpi. The only restriction imposed on the writers is to write each character within a rectangular box. The number of samples in each class of the database is non-uniform corresponding to their real life distributions. Also, for comparison purposes, each dataset has been properly divided into respective training and test sets.
PH-INDUCED IN SITU GELLING SYSTEM OF LOMEFLOXACIN FOR SUSTAINED OCULAR DELIVERY

In the present work, an attempt has been made to formulate pH-induced in-situ gel as an ophthalmic drug delivery system. In situ gels are made from polymers that exhibit phase transition due to physicochemical change in the environment. They can be conveniently dropped as a solution into the conjuctival sac in the eye. Upon contact with the lacrimal fluid, the polymer changes its conformation to form a gel. This delivery system has the ease of administration similar to an opthalmic solution and has a long retention time because of the gel formation. Different polymers for preparing pH induced in-situ gels have been evaluated. The topical application of ophthalmically active drugs to the eye is the most prescribed route of administration for the treatment of various ocular diseases. It is generally agreed that the intraocular bioavailability of topically applied drugs is extremely poor. Upon instillation of an ophthalmic solution; most of the instilled volume is eliminated from the pre-corneal area. This loss is mainly due to drainage of the excess fluid by the nasolacrimal duct or elimination of the solution by tear turnover, which will results in poor ocular bioavailability. Lomefloxacin is member of the fluoroquinolone class of antimicrobial drugs. It is active against a wide range of gram positive and gram negative organisms.
MODEL PARAMETER ESTIMATES FROM CMB TEMPERATURE FLUCTUATIONS

We consider the quantum birth of a hot FRW universe from a vacuum-dominated quantum fluctuation with admixture of radiation and strings, which corresponds to quantum tunnelling from a discrete energy level with a non-zero temperature. The presence of strings with the equation of state p = −ε/3 mimics a positive curvature term which makes it possible, in the case of a negative deficit angle, the quantum birth of an open and flat universe. In the pre-de-Sitter domain radiation energy levels are quantized. We calculate the temperature spectrum and estimate the range of the model parameters restricting temperature fluctuations by the observational constraint on the CMB anisotropy. For the GUT scale of initial de Sitter vacuum the lower limit on the temperature at the start of classical evolution is close to the values as predicted by reheating theories, while the upper limit is far from the threshold for a monopole rest mass. PACS numbers: 04.70. Bw, 04.20. Dw
Degrees of freedom of MIMO cognitive interference channel with user cooperation

In multiple-input multiple-output cognitive interference channels, secondary users share frequency bands with primary users. The different frequency authorities of the secondary users and the primary users complicate the determination of the upper bound (UB) of the degrees of freedom (DoF). This study focuses on the (K+1)-user interference channel from the perspective of the solvability of multivariable quadratic equations. The UB of the spatial DoF based on coordinated beamforming is derived from Bezout's theory, where the relationship between the UB and user count is non-linear. A joint interference aligned algorithm based on user cooperation is proposed. The algorithm is theoretically proved to be globally convergent and the DoF is analyzed to be insensitive to the convergent error, which means the proposed algorithm can achieve the UB of DoF through limited iterations. Theoretical analysis and simulation results show that extra DoF can be obtained by the secondary users by cooperating with the primary users. Furthermore, a user coordinated interference aligned algorithm is proposed to verify the availability of DoF. Global convergence has been proved, which means the proposed algorithm is capable of analyzing the UB of DoF under ideal conditions. However, algorithm maybe not convergent due to rounded error and limited iterative times. A further study on error of convergence is given to illustrate that the DoF is insensitive to convergence errors. So the upper bound can be achieved in limited iteration rounds.
Enregistrement d'Image Déformable en Groupe pour l'Estimation de Mouvement en Imagerie Médicale en 4D

La presente these propose des methodes pour l'estimation du mouvement des organes d'un patient autravers de l'imagerie tomographique. Le but est la correction du mouvement spatio-temporel sur les imagesmedicales tomographiques. En tant que paradigme experimental, nous considerons le probleme de l'estimation dumouvement dans l'imagerie IRM de diffusion, une modalite d'imagerie sensible a la diffusion des molecules d'eaudans le corps. Le but de ces travaux de these est l'evaluation des patients atteints de lymphome, car l'eau diffusedifferemment dans les tissus biologiques sains et dans les lesions. L'effet de la diffusion de l'eau peut etre mieuxrepresente par une image parametrique, grâce au coefficient de diffusion apparente (image a ADC), cree sur la based'une serie d'images DWI du meme patient (sequence d'images 3D), acquises au moment de la numerisation. Unetelle image parametrique a la possibilite de devenir un biomarqueur d'imagerie d’IRM et de fournir aux medecinsdes informations complementaires concernantl'image de FDG-PET qui est la methode d'imagerie de base pour lelymphome et qui montre la quantite de glucose metabolisee.Nos principales contributions sont au nombre de trois. Tout d'abord, nous proposons une methode de recalaged'image deformable en groupe specialement concue pour la correction de mouvement dans l’IRM de diffusion, carelle est guidee par un modele physiologique decrivant le processus de diffusion qui se deroule lors de l'acquisitionde l'image. Notre methode determine une image a ADC de plus grande precision en termes de representation dugradient de la diffusion des molecules d'eau par rapport a l` image correspondante obtenue par pratique couranteou par d'autres methodes de recalage d'image non base sur un modele. Deuxiemement, nous montrons qu'enimposant des contraintes spatiales sur le calcul de l'image a ADC, les tumeurs de l'image peuvent etre encore mieuxcaracterisees en les classant dans les differentes categories liees a la maladie. Troisiemement, nous montronsqu'une correlation entre DWI et FDG-PET doit exister en examinant la correlation entre les caracteristiquesstatistiques extraites par l'image a ADC lisse decoulant de notre methode du recalage d’image deformable et lesscores de recommandation sur la malignite des lesions, donnes par des experts bases sur une evaluation des imagesFDG-PET correspondantes du patient.
Heuristics for Mapping Real-Time Applications to NoC-Based Architectures Using Genetic Algorithms

One crucial step in the development of an application for a NoC-based MPSoC, consists on the allocation of the tasks that compose the system. When we consider such architecture, besides the computation time of the tasks, we also have to take into account the communication time between tasks in order to allocate and guarantee that tasks do not miss their deadlines. Communication between tasks is a factor that impacts directly in the real time system temporal behavior. However, its combination with task execution is not fully taken in consideration in NoC-based architectures. In this paper we focus on the discussion and development of different heuristics that are used for task mapping with the use of genetic algorithms. We use different response-time equations in order to provide a feasibility analysis that works for both task execution and communication. Our evaluation of the algorithms show that certain heuristics can provide quite an improvement on the processor utilization.
Diversity based review of Multipath Routing Metrics of Wireless Mesh Networks

Wireless Mesh Networks (WMN) are considered as robust architecture to provide reliable connectivity to fixed and mobile users. The redundant infrastructure provided by WMN can be efficiently utilized using multipath routing. However, the performance gain of multipath routing mainly depends on efficient path selection protocols. The omni-directional wireless medium, unstable link quality and mutual path interference are some of those factors which greatly affect the performance of multipath routing protocols. Routing metrics play a pivotal role for the selection of reliable paths. This paper has investigated a variety of existing single and multi-radio routing metrics to analyze their limitations in finding multiple reliable paths around interfering neighborhood. The paper thus proposes a Diversity based Multipath Routing Metric (DMRM) which basis its calculation on diverse wireless network conditions. The routing metric not only captures interfering traffic load on the link but also considers link loss ratio, inter and intra-flow interference, multiple data rates of nodes and channel diversity during multipath selection. DMRM integrates multiple routing conditions to overcome the limitations of existing metrics. The proposed metric is integrated with Diversity-based Multipath Routing Protocol (DMRP). DMRP is designed to select optimal path in terms of packet delivery ratio, lower level of interference, fewer congested links and multipath load balancing to achieve higher throughput and reduced end-to-end packet delay.
Two-dimensional affine generalized fractional Fourier transform

As the one-dimensional (1-D) Fourier transform can be extended into the 1-D fractional Fourier transform (FRFT), we can also generalize the two-dimensional (2-D) Fourier transform. Sahin et al. (see Appl. Opt., vol.37, no. 11, p.2130-41, 1998) have generalized the 2-D Fourier transform into the 2-D separable FRFT (which replaces each variable 1-D Fourier transform by the 1-D FRFT, respectively) and the 2-D separable canonical transform (further replaces FRFT by the canonical transform). Sahin et al., (see Appl. Opt., vol.31, no.23, p.5444-53, 1998), have also generalized it into the 2-D unseparable FRFT with four parameters. In this paper, we introduce the 1-D affine generalized fractional Fourier transform (AGFFT). It has even further extended the 2-D transforms described above. It is unseparable, and has, in total, ten degrees of freedom. We show that the 2-D AGFFT has many wonderful properties, such as the relations with the Wigner distribution, shifting-modulation operation, and the differentiation-multiplication operation. Although the 2-D AGFFT form seems very complex, in fact, the complexity of the implementation will not be more than the implementation of the 2-D separable FRFT. Besides, we also show that the 2-D AGFFT extends many of the applications for the 1-D FRFT, such as the filter design, optical system analysis, image processing, and pattern recognition and will be a very useful tool for 2-D signal processing.
Move: mobility with persistent network connections

The combined force behind ubiquitous mobile computing and storage devices and universal network access has created a unique era of mobile network computing, in which computation units ranging from a single process to an entire host can move while communicating with each other across the network. A key problem therefore is how to preserve the ongoing network communication between two computation units when they move from one place to another; because current network infrastructure and protocols are designed to support stationary communication endpoints only. We have developed MOVE, a fine-grain end-to-end connection migration architecture, to address the problem. The most distinguishing characteristic of MOVE is that MOVE achieves, in a single system, several essential goals of a mobile communication architecture including: (1) entirely end system only without any infrastructure demand, transport protocol independence, and backward compatibility; (2) fine-grain connection migration and unlimited mobility scope; (3) secure migration with both handoff and suspension/resumption support; and (4) very low performance overhead both before and after migration. We first analyze the key technical problems of end-to-end network communication caused by mobility: state inconsistency, conflict, and synchronization; and we develop a simple and elegant namespace abstraction called CELL to resolve these problems. CELL provides a virtual, private, and labeled namespace for individual connection states so that they can be transparently migrated anywhere free of the problems mentioned above. We then develop a unique handoff signaling protocol called H2O, which can handoff a connection securely in a single one-way end-to-end trip with minimal impact on the connection characteristics perceived by the transport protocols. H2O achieves this by combining the simple connection redirection mechanism afforded by the CELL abstraction with a low-overhead security mechanism, which is based on Diffie-Hellman protocol but computes session keys only at migration time. We finally integrate MOVE seamlessly with a process migration mechanism to fully exploit MOVE's fine-grain connection migration capability and enable support for new application scenarios. For example, we show how the integration can provide high service availability in proxy-based server clusters by allowing server applications and their persistent connections to be migrated during a server maintenance to avoid service disruption. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)
Diary Methods in AAA Games User Research

In this paper we present lessons learned from a diary study completed for Electronic Arts' AAA video game NHL16 in August 2015. Key findings suggest that while there is high risk to use the method, there is also great benefit in terms of impact via actionable data and ability to collect rich artifacts to tell the users' stories. To reduce the risk, this work presents a series of suggested guidelines for conducting a diary study in games user research, which has not been investigated in past work. We lay a foundation for diary methods in GUR and how to further improve the method by providing examples and real results through an AAA game example.
Expression of lymphatic markers and lymphatic growth factors in psoriasis before and after anti-TNF treatment

BACKGROUND Angiogenesis is an early stage of psoriatic lesion development, but less is known about lymphagiogenesis and its role in the development of psoriasis. OBJECTIVE To examine the expression of specific lymphatic markers and lymphatic growth factors in untreated psoriatic skin, in the unaffected skin of patients and skin of healthy volunteers, as well as their alteration after treatment with an anti-TNF agent. METHODS Immunohistochemistry for the lymphatic markers D2-40 and LYVE-1, in addition to the VEGF-C and VEGF-D growth factors, was performed in the skin biopsies of psoriatic lesions and adjacent non-psoriatic skin of 19 patients before and after treatment with etanercept, as well as in the skin biopsies of 10 healthy volunteers. RESULTS The expressions of D2-40, VEGF-C and VEGF-D on lymphatic vessels underwent statistically significant increases in untreated psoriatic skin compared with non-lesional skin, in contrast to LYVE-1, which did not involve significant increase in expression in psoriatic skin. VEGF-C expression on lymphatic vessels diminished after treatment with etanercept. Moreover VEGF-C and VEGF-D staining on fibroblasts presented with higher expression in lesional skin than in non-lesional adjacent skin. CONCLUSION Remodeling of lymphatic vessels possibly occurs during psoriatic lesion development, parallel to blood vessel formation. The exact role of this alteration is not yet clear and more studies are necessary to confirm these results.
Pure and complete trisomy 18p due to a supernumerary marker chromosome associated with moderate mental retardation

Trisomy for the short arm of chromosome 18 or trisomy 18p, is rarely described. We report on a 13‐year‐old boy with minor facial anomalies, mental retardation, bilateral cryptorchidism associated with a de novo supernumerary marker chromosome (SMC). Using fluorescence in situ hybridization and comparative genomic hybridization analyses, this SMC corresponded to the p arm of chromosome 18 associated with a centromere of either chromosome 13 or 21 and nucleolus organizing regions (NORs). We report here the first case of a pure and complete trisomy 18p due to a SMC. This report and review of literature confirm that the main phenotypic anomaly associated with trisomy 18p is moderate mental retardation. © 2007 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Syringyl Lignin Is Unaltered by Severe Sinapyl Alcohol Dehydrogenase Suppression in Tobacco[W]

This study identifies cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase as the predominant enzyme that catalyzes the final step in S lignin biosynthesis in woody angiosperm xylem and challenges the widely held view that sinapyl alcohol dehydrogenase regulates S lignin biosynthesis in angiosperms. The manipulation of lignin could, in principle, facilitate efficient biofuel production from plant biomass. Despite intensive study of the lignin pathway, uncertainty exists about the enzyme catalyzing the last step in syringyl (S) monolignol biosynthesis, the reduction of sinapaldehyde to sinapyl alcohol. Traditional schemes of the pathway suggested that both guaiacyl (G) and S monolignols are produced by a single substrate-versatile enzyme, cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD). This was challenged by the discovery of a novel sinapyl alcohol dehydrogenase (SAD) that preferentially uses sinapaldehyde as a substrate and that was claimed to regulate S lignin biosynthesis in angiosperms. Consequently, most pathway schemes now show SAD (or SAD and CAD) at the sinapaldehyde reduction step, although functional evidence is lacking. We cloned SAD from tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) and suppressed it in transgenic plants using RNA interference–inducing vectors. Characterization of lignin in the woody stems shows no change to content, composition, or structure, and S lignin is normal. By contrast, plants additionally suppressed in CAD have changes to lignin structure and S:G ratio and have increased sinapaldehyde in lignin, similar to plants suppressed in CAD alone. These data demonstrate that CAD, not SAD, is the enzyme responsible for S lignin biosynthesis in woody angiosperm xylem.