Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A 5-Item Scale to Predict Stroke Outcome After Cortical Middle Cerebral Artery Territory Infarction: Validation From Results of the Diffusion and Perfusion Imaging Evaluation for Understanding Stroke Evolution (DEFUSE) Study

Background and Purpose— Various clinical, laboratory, and radiographic parameters have been identified as predictors of outcome for ischemic stroke. The purpose of this study was to combine these parameters into a validated scale for outcome prognostication in patients with a middle cerebral artery territory infarction. Methods— We retrospectively reviewed 129 patients over a 2-year period and considered demographic, clinical, laboratory, and radiographic parameters as potential predictors of outcome. Inclusion criteria were unilateral hemispheric infarcts within the middle cerebral artery territory >15 mm in diameter. Our primary outcome measure was a favorable recovery defined as a modified Rankin Score was ≤2 at 30 days. A multivariable model was used to determine independent predictors of outcome and weighted to create a 5-item scale to predict stroke recovery. External validation of this model was done using data from the Diffusion and Perfusion Imaging Evaluation for Understanding Stroke Evolution (DEFUSE) study. Results— The 5 independent predictors of outcome were as follows: age (OR, 1.09; 95% CI, 1.03 to 1.14; P=0.001), National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale score (OR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.06 to 1.30; P=0.003), infarct volume (OR, 1.01; 95% CI, 1.00 to 1.02; P=0.03), admission white blood cell count (8.5×103/mm3; OR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.03 to 1.27; P=0.04), and presence of hyperglycemia (OR, 4.2; 95% CI, 1.1 to 16.4; P=0.04). Combining these variables into a point scale significantly improved prediction over the individual variables accounted alone as evidenced by the area underneath the receiver operating curve (OR, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.87 to 0.96; P=0.0001). When applied to the DEFUSE study population for validation, the model achieved a sensitivity of 83% and specificity of 86%. Conclusions— With validation from a prospective study of similar patients, this model serves as a useful clinical and research tool to predict stroke recovery after cortical middle cerebral artery territory infarction.
In situ passivation of GaAsP nanowires

We report on the structural and optical properties of GaAsP nanowires (NWs) grown by molecular-beam epitaxy. By adjusting the alloy composition in the NWs, the transition energy was tuned to the optimal value required for tandem III–V/silicon solar cells. We discovered that an unintentional shell was also formed during the GaAsP NW growth. The NW surface was passivated by an in situ deposition of a radial Ga(As)P shell. Different shell compositions and thicknesses were investigated. We demonstrate that the optimal passivation conditions for GaAsP NWs (with a gap of 1.78 eV) are obtained with a 5 nm thick GaP shell. This passivation enhances the luminescence intensity of the NWs by 2 orders of magnitude and yields a longer luminescence decay. The luminescence dynamics changes from single exponential decay with a 4 ps characteristic time in non-passivated NWs to a bi-exponential decay with characteristic times of 85 and 540 ps in NWs with GaP shell passivation.
The parasite's long arm: a tapeworm parasite induces behavioural changes in uninfected group members of its social host

Parasites can induce alterations in host phenotypes in order to enhance their own survival and transmission. Parasites of social insects might not only benefit from altering their individual hosts, but also from inducing changes in uninfected group members. Temnothorax nylanderi ant workers infected with the tapeworm Anomotaenia brevis are known to be chemically distinct from nest-mates and do not contribute to colony fitness, but are tolerated in their colonies and well cared for. Here, we investigated how tapeworm- infected workers affect colony aggression by manipulating their presence in ant colonies and analysing whether their absence or presence resulted in behavioural alterations in their nest-mates. We report a parasite-induced shift in colony aggression, shown by lower aggression of uninfected nest-mates from parasitized colonies towards conspecifics, potentially explaining the tolerance towards infected ants. We also demonstrate that tapeworm-infected workers showed a reduced flight response and higher survival, while their presence caused a decrease in survival of uninfected nest-mates. This anomalous behaviour of infected ants, coupled with their increased survival, could facilitate the parasites' transmission to its definitive hosts, woodpeckers. We conclude that parasites exploiting individuals that are part of a society not only induce phenotypic changes within their individual hosts, but in uninfected group members as well.
Thrombolysis in Pulmonary Embolism: A Debatable Indication

Summary Successfully utilized contemporary pulmonary embolism thrombolysis reverses right heart failure rapidly and safely. This therapeutic approach may lower mortality from pulmonary embolism and reduce morbidity from chronic pulmonary hypertension. Pulmonary embolism thrombolysis remains a debatable indication because large clinical trials using survival as an endpoint have not been carried out. Instead, thrombolysis trials have been undertaken with surrogate endpoints such as reduction in clot burden, reduction in pulmonary arterial pressure, and improvement in right ventricular function. In an era where hundreds of thousands of myocardial infarction patients have participated in thrombolysis trials that focus on survival as the principal endpoint, the much smaller trials of PE thrombolysis have not been sufficiently definitive to achieve a consensus. Pharmaceutical companies have not considered this area of investigation to be a good return on investment, because PE is a much less common problem than acute coronary syndromes. No government funding agency has targeted PE thrombolysis as a priority for clinical research. Currently, the only contemporary thrombolytic regimen for pulmonary embolism that is approved by the Food and Drug Administration is tissue plasminogen activator, in a dose of 100 mg/2 h. New thrombolytic agents under development for pulmonary embolism include reteplase, saruplase, and recombinant staphylokinase. Future clinical trials will require multicenter collaboration and focus on clinically relevant endpoints such as reduction of mortality and recurrent venous thromboembolism.
PicXAA: greedy probabilistic construction of maximum expected accuracy alignment of multiple sequences

Accurate tools for multiple sequence alignment (MSA) are essential for comparative studies of the function and structure of biological sequences. However, it is very challenging to develop a computationally efficient algorithm that can consistently predict accurate alignments for various types of sequence sets. In this article, we introduce PicXAA (Probabilistic Maximum Accuracy Alignment), a probabilistic non-progressive alignment algorithm that aims to find protein alignments with maximum expected accuracy. PicXAA greedily builds up the multiple alignment from sequence regions with high local similarities, thereby yielding an accurate global alignment that effectively grasps the local similarities among sequences. Evaluations on several widely used benchmark sets show that PicXAA constantly yields accurate alignment results on a wide range of reference sets, with especially remarkable improvements over other leading algorithms on sequence sets with local similarities. PicXAA source code is freely available at: http://www.ece. tamu.edu/∼bjyoon/picxaa/.
Clonal selection of metastasis within the life history of a tumor.

Tumor metastasis is a clonally selective process that occurs as part of tumor progression, a hypothesis supported by experimental and clinical research. Data supporting this hypothesis were first introduced by Fidler and Kripke in the late 1970s ( [1][1]), providing a powerful model to gain insight
An Improved System for Sentence-level Novelty Detection in Textual Streams

Novelty detection in news events has long been a difficult problem. A number of models performed well on specific data streams but certain issues are far from being solved, particularly in large data streams from the WWW where unpredictability of new terms requires adaptation in the vector space model. We present a novel event detection system based on the Incremental Term Frequency-Inverse Document Frequency (TF-IDF) weighting incorporated with Locality Sensitive Hashing (LSH). Our system could efficiently and effectively adapt to the changes within the data streams of any new terms with continual updates to the vector space model. Regarding miss probability, our proposed novelty detection framework outperforms a recognised baseline system by approximately 16% when evaluating a benchmark dataset from Google News.
Learning Optimal Seller Strategies with Intelligent Agents: Application of Evolutionary and Reinforcement Learning

The role of automated agents in the electronic marketplace has been growing steadily and has been attracting a lot of research from the artificial intelligence community as well as from economists. We consider the problem of homogeneous sellers of a single raw material or component vying for business from a single large buyer, and present artificial agents that learn near-optimal seller strategies. Standard game-theoretic analysis of the problem assumes completely rational and omniscient agents to derive Nash equilibrium seller policy. We show that in our problem such an equilibrium is unstable, and present simple reinforcement and evolutionary learning agents that learn strategies with better than Nash payoffs.
Serum and Urinary Malondialdehyde (MDA), Uric acid, and Protein as markers of perinatal asphyxia

Introduction Perinatal asphyxia (PA) is among the leading causes of neonatal morbidity and death in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). The aims of this research were to determine the concentrations of malondialdehyde (MDA), urine MDA, uric acid, and protein in the cord blood of neonates with perinatal asphyxia and to determine their relationship with the severity of perinatal asphyxia. Methods This matched case-control study was conducted from October 2012 to March 2013. All of the cases and controls were selected from the Gynecology & Obstetrics Department and the NICUs, at Qous Central Hospital in Qena, Egypt. We allocated 20 full-term neonates who had perinatal asphyxia to the case group. Also, we selected 20 healthy neonates for the control group. The subjects were matched with respect to age and gender. At birth and 48 hours later, measurements were made of MDA in cord blood and urine, and uric acid, protein, and creatinine also were measured in both groups. The data were analyzed by SPSS, version 17, using the independent-samples t-test, ANOVA, Tukey’s test, and Spearman’s correlation coefficient. Results At birth and 48 hr later, the newborns’ with PA had significantly higher levels of MDA in the cord blood, mean urinary uric acid/creatinine (UUA:Cr), protein/creatinine (UP:Cr), and MDA/creatinine ratio (UMDA:Cr) than the controls; their PA levels were correlated with the degree of hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy (HIE). The babies who died due to PA had significantly higher levels of cord blood MDA, and they also had higher UUA:Cr, UP:Cr, and UMDA:Cr ratios than the babies who survived. Conclusion The concentration of MDA in cord blood can be used as a diagnostic marker of oxidative stress in asphyxiated neonates. The ratios of the urinary excretion rates of uric acid, protein, and MDA to creatinine increased as the severity of perinatal asphyxia and associated brain damage increased.
Volatile fatty acids in adult and young ruminants: an evaluation of a gas chromatographic method.

A gas chromatographic method was evaluated for the quantification of volatile fatty acids in blood plasma from ruminants. Amounts of . 002 mg acetic acid and . 001 mg of propionic and butyric acid could be quantified. Diurnal variation in acetate and propionate was found when blood samples were taken during 1 d from five cows. Jugular blood samples were taken from the five cows 8 wk before parturition to 10 wk after parturition and from three of their calves to 32 wk of age. Acetate decreased in cows at the weeks around parturition. Calves had very low acetate during the first 10 wk of life, but the concentration subsequently increased to that in adult ruminants. Propionate concentration was below . 17 mM and butyrate concentration below . 08 mM in all samples. It was concluded that this method was suitable for analyzing volatile fatty acids in blood plasma from ruminants, which is of importance in the study of metabolic diseases.
Robust Design of Thermally Actuated Micro-Cantilever Using Numerical Simulations

Dynamic behaviour of a micro-cantilever beam under periodic electro-thermal loading is studied in this paper. For certain applications the beam is required to vibrate at a particular frequency. Modal analysis using 3D finite element is used in order to find the geometrical parameters that makes fundamental frequency of the beam match the required frequency. Then non-linear dynamic thermoelastic analysis is conducted on the system to analyse the time-history (transient) behaviour of the beam and record its tip displacement. However, due to uncertainties and non-repeatabilities that are inherent properties of the system along with those associated with the manufacturing, final product is likely to have deviations from these estimated values (fundamental frequency and tip displacement). Thus, choosing a nominal (desired) design and studying the deviation in natural frequency and tip displacement via 2 factorial Design-of-Experiments (DOE), effect of uncertainties on the overall performance of the system is investigated. This allows finding the significance of individual parameters on the overall robustness of the design as well as potential interactions between various parameters. Finally, the expected behaviour of the micro-cantilever and its robustness to design and implementation uncertainties are elaborated and statements for robust design of this system are made. (Received in July 2015, accepted in December 2015. This paper was with the authors 1 month for 2 revisions.)
Chandra and XMM-Newton Observations of a Sample of Low-Redshift FR I and FR II Radio Galaxy Nuclei

We present spectral results from Chandra and XMM-Newton observations of a sample of 22 low-redshift (z < 0.1) radio galaxies and consider whether the core emission originates from the base of a relativistic jet, or an accretion flow, or contains contributions from both. We find correlations between the unabsorbed X-ray, radio, and optical fluxes and luminosities of FR I-type radio-galaxy cores, implying a common origin in the form of a jet. On the other hand, we find that the X-ray spectra of FR II-type radio galaxy cores are dominated by absorbed emission, with NH ≳ 1023 atoms cm-2, which is likely to originate in an accretion flow. We discuss several models that may account for the different nuclear properties of FR I- and FR II-type cores and also demonstrate that both heavily obscured, accretion-related and unobscured, jet-related components may be present in all radio galaxy nuclei. Any absorbed, accretion-related components in FR I-type galaxies have low radiative efficiencies.
A coupled filtering method to solve feature-motion decorrelation in speckle tracking

In speckle tracking, feature-motion decorrelation is a problem that makes feature tracking results unable to represent the underlying tissue deformation. In this paper, we propose a coupled filtering method to address the feature-motion decorrelation problem. After explicitly modeling image variations caused by tissue deformation, we filter the image before tissue deformation and the warped image after tissue deformation with a pair of filters, respectively. Theoretical derivation show that the two filtered images are identical to each other. Since the coupled filtering method keeps tissue deformation parameters, feature-based tracking is able to accurately estimate the parameters of underlying tissue deformation. Experiments in elastography studies show that our method is superior over previous methods.
Sensitivity and resolution of evanescent microwave microscope

A near-field evanescent microwave microscope is based on a /spl lambda//4 coaxial TEM transmission-line resonator with a silver-plated tungsten tip extending through an end-wall aperture. This microwave microscope is used to characterize local electromagnetic properties of dielectrics, conductors, and superconductors. The resolution of the probe is verified experimentally by scanning etched gold lines on a sapphire substrate. A first-order sensitivity estimation generated from a unified equivalent circuit model of the probe and sample is investigated. The sensitivity inherent to the resonant probe and system noise is discussed. Experimental validation of sensitivity is given.
CD24 Expression Is Increased in 5-Fluorouracil-Treated Esophageal Adenocarcinoma Cells

The cancer stem cell (CSC) model suggests that there are subsets of cells within a tumor with increased proliferation and self-renewal capacity, which play a key role in therapeutic resistance. The importance of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) in carcinogenesis has been previously established and the use of COX-2 inhibitors as celecoxib has been shown to exert antitumor effects. The present study investigated whether treatment of esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) cells with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) or the growth of tumor spheres increased the proportion of CSCs and also if treatment with celecoxib was able to reduce the putative CSC markers in this tumor. OE19 and OE33 EAC cells surviving 5-FU exposure exhibited an increase in CSC markers CD24 and ABCG2 and also an increased resistance to apoptosis. EAC cell lines had the capacity to form multiple spheres displaying typical CSC functionalities such as self-renewal and increased CD24 levels. In addition, after the induction of differentiation, cancer cells reached levels of CD24 similar to those observed in the parental cells. Treatment with celecoxib alone or in combination with 5-FU also resulted in a reduction of CD24 expression. Moreover, celecoxib inhibited the growth of tumor spheres. These findings showing a reduction in CSC markers induced by celecoxib suggest that the COX-2 inhibitor might be a candidate for combined chemotherapy in the treatment of EAC. However, additional clinical and experimental studies are needed.
Effects of Drug Burden Index on Cognitive Function in Older Men

Abstract We aimed to assess the relationship between Drug Burden Index (DBI), a risk assessment tool that measures anticholinergic and sedative medication exposure and cognitive performance, and cognitive impairment in older people. The study population consisted of community-dwelling older men, 70 years or older, living in Sydney, Australia. The Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination (ACE) and the Trail Making Task (TMT) cognitive tests were performed, and participants were categorized as having intact cognition, mild cognitive impairment, or dementia using clinical diagnostic criteria. The analyses were restricted to participants with English-speaking background (n = 987) and to the subgroup whose cognition was intact (n = 887). In the study group, DBI exposure was not associated with poorer performance on the ACE (odds ratio [OR], 0.98; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.66–1.47) or the TMT (OR, 0.71; 95% CI, 0.40–1.24) tests, after controlling for covariates. Similarly, DBI exposure was not associated with cognitive impairment (OR, 1.34; 95% CI, 0.83–2.16). There was no association between increasing DBI scores and poorer performance on any of the outcomes. On subgroup analysis of cognitively intact subgroup, DBI exposure or increasing DBI scores were not associated with poorer performance on the ACE or the TMT tests. In this study of community-dwelling older men, DBI was not associated with limitations on objective cognitive performance measures or with a clinical diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment or dementia.
Exploring Optimal Frequency Caps in Real Time Bidding Advertising

Benefited from the high-speed development of Internet and the popularization of big data technology, Real Time Bidding (RTB) emerged and developed quickly, and has become one of the most important and popular model for online computational advertising. In the pay-per-impression based RTB advertising, frequency capping is undoubtedly one of the most crucial issues faced by advertisers and Demand Side Platforms (DSPs), since there are generally vast amount of ad requests in RTB markets, among which many may be triggered by the same target audience. As such, choosing the optimal frequency cap considering all the advertisers becomes a critical issue faced by DSPs. Considering that displaying one advertisement multiple number of times to the same user will diminish the advertising effect, we introduce the concept of discount factor and establish an optimization model of frequency capping to seek for the optimal frequency cap for each advertiser. We also design some experiments to validate our proposed model by utilizing the computational experiment approach, and the experimental results show that the optimal frequency cap can be influenced by the values of the discount factors, and higher value of the discount factor can deduce the advertising effect of larger frequency cap. Moreover, when the discount factors of the advertisers take different values, there also exists an optimal frequency cap, at which the advertisers can get the expected maximum revenue in the long run.
Analysis and Research for Network Management Alarms Correlation Based on Sequence Clustering Algorithm

The alarms correlation rules obtained on the bases of network management alarms play an important role on network management and network maintenance. Alarms correlation is a difficult problem in network fault management; sequential pattern mining can be utilized to extract episode rules from network system alarms. This paper introduces the related studies of alarms association and sequential pattern mining; describes the features of network management alarms; presents a method of mining correlation rules of network management alarms by sequence clustering algorithm. The experiments show that many interesting correlation rules could be acquired efficiently. Furthermore, these rules could be used to guide the intelligent network alarms filtering and fault location.