Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Comparison of Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection Outcomes between Oligozoospermic, Obstructive Azoospermic and Non-Obstructive Azoospermic Patients

Background To determine the differences in sperm quality and results of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles between three groups of male factor infertile couples: oligozoospermic, obstructive azoospermic and non-obstructive azoospermic. Materials and Methods In this prospective cohort study, 628 male factor infertile couples who underwent ICSI cycles from April 2004 to March 2006 were enrolled. Three hundred fourteen oligozoospermic patients (group I), 180 obstructive azoospermic patients (group II) and 134 non-obstructive azoospermic patients (group III) were included. Fertilization, cleavage, implantation and clinical pregnancy, early abortion rates were assessed. Chisquare and analysis of variances with Post Hoc (Tukey test) were used for data analysis. Results Fertilization rates were significantly different in the three groups (group I: 66.6%; group II: 51.8%; group III: 47.7%; p=0.004). There were differences in the implantation rates (I: 19.5%; II: 17.6%; III: 6.4%; p=0.001). The cleavage rates were found to be 55.1% (group I), 47.5% (group II), 45.5%(group III), respectively. The clinical pregnancy rate was the lowest in the third group (I: 37.6%; II: 28.9%; III: 13.4%; p=0.001). There was no significant difference in early abortion rates between the three groups: (I: 10.7%; II: 9.8%; III: 8%; p=0.776). Conclusion It can be concluded that patients with oligozoospermia may benefit the most from ICSI treatment. ICSI cycles which use spermatozoa from non-obstructive azoospermic patients have a lower chance for successful outcome. The results of this study suggest, in cases of failure to achieve pregnancy after 1 or 2 cycles in non-obstructive azoospermic patients, embryo donation would be a better alternative.
PrivyNet: A Flexible Framework for Privacy-Preserving Deep Neural Network Training

Massive data exist among user local platforms that usually cannot support deep neural network (DNN) training due to computation and storage resource constraints. Cloud-based training schemes provide beneficial services but suffer from potential privacy risks due to excessive user data collection. To enable cloud-based DNN training while protecting the data privacy simultaneously, we propose to leverage the intermediate representations of the data, which is achieved by splitting the DNNs and deploying them separately onto local platforms and the cloud. The local neural network (NN) is used to generate the feature representations. To avoid local training and protect data privacy, the local NN is derived from pre-trained NNs. The cloud NN is then trained based on the extracted intermediate representations for the target learning task. We validate the idea of DNN splitting by characterizing the dependency of privacy loss and classification accuracy on the local NN topology for a convolutional NN (CNN) based image classification task. Based on the characterization, we further propose PrivyNet to determine the local NN topology, which optimizes the accuracy of the target learning task under the constraints on privacy loss, local computation, and storage. The efficiency and effectiveness of PrivyNet are demonstrated with the CIFAR-10 dataset.
Opioid-induced Hyperalgesia in a Murine Model of Postoperative Pain: Role of Nitric Oxide Generated from the Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase

Background: Opioid-induced delayed hyperalgesia and allodynia have been reported in human and animal models. The authors evaluated the influence of different opioids used during clinical anesthesia on nociceptive sensitivity and incisional pain in mice. The role of the inducible nitric oxide synthase on surgical pain and opioid-induced pronociception also was investigated. Methods: CD1 mice were used to study the efficacy of opioids inducing pronociception and enhancing incisional pain. The implication of nitric oxide generated from the inducible nitric oxide synthase was investigated using knockout mice (C57/BL6) for its gene. Mice underwent right hind paw surgery under sevoflurane anesthesia combined with subcutaneous administration of saline or the opioids fentanyl (0.05 mg/kg), alfentanil (1 mg/kg), and remifentanil (0.04 mg/kg). Nociception was evaluated daily for 7 days using paw-pressure, plantar, and von Frey tests. Results: The antinociceptive effect of opioids was followed by long-lasting thermal hyperalgesia and mechanical allodynia (each lasting between 2 and 7 days), but not mechanical hyperalgesia. Intraoperative infusion of opioids significantly enhanced incisional pain in all tests. The most prominent effects were observed with remifentanil. The inducible nitric oxide synthase gene deletion attenuated both remifentanil- and incision-induced pronociceptive effects. In mutant mice for the inducible nitric oxide synthase gene, remifentanil was still efficient in enhancing incisional pain, but the global pronociceptive effect was attenuated significantly as compared with wild-type mice. Conclusions: The authors’ study demonstrates that the intraoperative administration of fentanyl or remifentanil enhances the extent and duration of postoperative pain. The results suggest a role of the nitric oxide systems in the cause of acute postoperative pain and opioid-induced pronociception.
Information and Estimation over Binomial and Negative Binomial Models

In recent years, a number of results have been developed which connect information measures and estimation measures under various models, including, predominently, Gaussian and Poisson models. More recent results due to Taborda and Perez-Cruz relate the relative entropy to certain mismatched estimation errors in the context of binomial and negative binomial models, where, unlike in the case of Gaussian and Poisson models, the conditional mean estimates concern models of different parameters than those of the original model. In this note, a different set of results in simple forms are developed for binomial and negative binomial models, where the conditional mean estimates are produced through the original models. The new results are more consistent with existing results for Gaussian and Poisson models.
Detection of Driver Fatigue Caused by Sleep Deprivation

This paper aims to provide reliable indications of driver drowsiness based on the characteristics of driver-vehicle interaction. A test bed was built under a simulated driving environment, and a total of 12 subjects participated in two experiment sessions requiring different levels of sleep (partial sleep-deprivation versus no sleep-deprivation) before the experiment. The performance of the subjects was analyzed in a series of stimulus-response and routine driving tasks, which revealed the performance differences of drivers under different sleep-deprivation levels. The experiments further demonstrated that sleep deprivation had greater effect on rule-based than on skill-based cognitive functions: when drivers were sleep-deprived, their performance of responding to unexpected disturbances degraded, while they were robust enough to continue the routine driving tasks such as lane tracking, vehicle following, and lane changing. In addition, we presented both qualitative and quantitative guidelines for designing drowsy-driver detection systems in a probabilistic framework based on the paradigm of Bayesian networks. Temporal aspects of drowsiness and individual differences of subjects were addressed in the framework.
pH sensing with temperature compensation in a Molecular Biosensor for drugs detection

This paper describes an electrochemical biosensor for molecules for personalized medicine including pH and temperature shift monitoring system. Electrochemical sensors based on the cytochromes P450 detect the large majority of drugs commonly used in pharmacological treatments. The same cytochrome detects different drugs at different electrochemical interface potentials. Therefore, the potential encodes the drug type meanwhile current encodes drug concentration. However, potential and current depend on pH variations that might occur in the patient sample. This paper presents evidence of these variations and proposes a novel design for multiplexing the bio-sensing with a new pH and temperature control system.
Explicit bounds on the exponential decay and on the L/sub 2/ gain for linear time-varying systems

It is well known since many years ago that for the linear time-varying system e = Ae + B (t)/spl theta/, /spl theta/ = -B(t)/sup T/e with A Hurwitz, and B(t) bounded and globally Lipschitz, it is necessary and sufficient for global exponential stability, that B(t) satisfy the so-called persistency of excitation condition. In this note we provide explicit bounds for the convergence rate and the overshoot of the transient behavior of the solutions e(t), /spl theta/(t) as functions of the richness of B(t). Then we use the exponential decaying bound to obtain a converse Lyapunov function and finally, we provide an estimate on the L/sub 2/ gain of the system from an additive input. In particular we exhibit for this bound, its explicit dependence on the PE property of the regressor which is imposed as hypothesis.
Predicting functionally important residues from sequence conservation

MOTIVATION All residues in a protein are not equally important. Some are essential for the proper structure and function of the protein, whereas others can be readily replaced. Conservation analysis is one of the most widely used methods for predicting these functionally important residues in protein sequences. RESULTS We introduce an information-theoretic approach for estimating sequence conservation based on Jensen-Shannon divergence. We also develop a general heuristic that considers the estimated conservation of sequentially neighboring sites. In large-scale testing, we demonstrate that our combined approach outperforms previous conservation-based measures in identifying functionally important residues; in particular, it is significantly better than the commonly used Shannon entropy measure. We find that considering conservation at sequential neighbors improves the performance of all methods tested. Our analysis also reveals that many existing methods that attempt to incorporate the relationships between amino acids do not lead to better identification of functionally important sites. Finally, we find that while conservation is highly predictive in identifying catalytic sites and residues near bound ligands, it is much less effective in identifying residues in protein-protein interfaces. AVAILABILITY Data sets and code for all conservation measures evaluated are available at http://compbio.cs. princeton.edu/conservation/
Cultural Influences on Health Care Use: Differences in Perceived Unmet Needs and Expectations of Providers by Latino and Euro-American Parents of Children with Special Health Care Needs

ABSTRACT. This study compares service use, perceived unmet needs, and expectations of providers of Latino and Euro-American families of children with disabilities enrolled in a Title V Program. Eighty-four families and 20 providers participated in open-ended, semistructured, and structured interviews. Latino families underused Title V services (p < .001). The Latino families were more likely to cite unmet needs in the following areas: an unresolved health problem (p < .05), rehabilitation therapy programs (p < .001), or need for more information or a support group (p < .001). The Euro-American families cited unmet needs in the following areas: lack of day care (p < .001), respite services (p < .001), recreational programs (p < .001), and home health aides (p < .007). Textual analysis of open interviews revealed that the two groups of families had different expectations of providers. Latino cultural values play a role in these differences, creating barriers for effectively communicating with providers and for meeting children's needs.
ECOG is as independent predictor of the response to chemotherapy, overall survival and progression-free survival in carcinoma of unknown primary site

The aim of the present study was to determine whether age, gender, functional status, histology, tumor location, number of metastases, and levels of the tumor markers, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and albumin, are poor prognostic factors for the response to chemotherapy in patients with carcinoma of unknown primary site. A total of 149 patients diagnosed with carcinoma of unknown primary site that was histologically confirmed, and treated with chemotherapy in the Oncology Hospital, National Medical Center, ‘Century XXI’ IMSS, Mexico City, Mexico during the period between January 2002 to December 2009, were carefully selected for the present study. The analysis of 149 patients diagnosed with carcinoma of unknown primary site revealed that the liver was the organ with the highest frequency of metastases (33.5%). The objective response rates to chemotherapy were ~30.2%. Notably, ECOG was an important predictor of response to chemotherapy (P=0.008). The median progression-free survival was 7.1 months. Upon multivariate analysis, the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) Scale of Performance Status was observed as an independent predictor of progression (P<0.0001). The median overall survival was 14.2 months. The ECOG was also an independent predictor of mortality (P<0.0001). In conclusion, the data from the present study have demonstrated that ECOG is an independent predictor of a poor response to chemotherapy, lower overall survival and progression-free survival in carcinoma of unknown primary site.
Distributed Media-Aware Rate Allocation for Video Multicast Over Wireless Networks

A unified optimization framework for rate allocation among multiple video multicast sessions sharing a wireless network is presented. Our framework applies to delivery of both scalable and non-scalable video streams. In both cases, the optimization objective is to minimize the total video distortion of all peers without incurring excessive network utilization. Our system model explicitly accounts for heterogeneity in wireless link capacities, traffic contention among neighboring links, as well as different video rate-distortion (RD) characteristics. The proposed distributed rate allocation scheme leverages cross-layer information exchange between the media access control and application layers to achieve fast convergence at the optimal, media-aware allocation. Performance of the proposed media-aware rate allocation protocol is compared against a heuristic scheme based on TCP-friendly rate control (TFRC). In network simulations of standard-definition video streaming over single or multiple multicast trees, the proposed scheme consistently achieves higher overall video quality than the TFRC-based heuristics. When delivering scalable streams, the flexibility of per-peer rate adaptation inside each multicast tree yields a further slight improvement in overall video quality over multicast of non-scalable streams.
Archives des publications du CNRC Production of Models of the International Space Station Elements from 3D Laser Images

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Teachers as Researchers: Qualitative Inquiry as a Path to Empowerment

Foreword Shirley R. Steinberg 1. Introduction: Positivistic Standards and the Bizarre Educational World of the Twenty-first Century 2. Teachers as Researchers, Good Work and Troubled Times 3. Connecting Knower and Known: Constructing an Emancipating System of Meanin4. Exploring Assumptions Behind Education Research - Defining Positivism in a Neo-Positivist Era 5. What constitutes knowledge? 6. Purposes of Research: the Concept of Instrumental Rationality 7. The Quest for Certainty 8. Verifiability and the Concept of Rigor in Qualitative Research 9. The Value of the Qualitative Dimension 10. Values, Objectivity, and Ideology 11. The Foundations of Teacher Research: A Sample Syllabus
Are there approximate fast fourier transforms on graphs?

Signal processing on graphs is a recent research domain that seeks to extend classical signal processing tools such as the Fourier transform to irregular domains given by a graph. In such a graph setting, a way to rapidly apply the Fourier transform, i.e. a Fast Fourier Transform (FFT), is lacking. In this paper, we propose to leverage the recently introduced Flexible Approximate MUltilayer Sparse Transforms (FAST) in order to compute approximate FFTs on graphs. The approach is first described, then validated on several types of classical graphs and finally used for fast filtering, showing good potential.
Comparing inactivation protocols of Yersinia organisms for identification with matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry.

RATIONALE It is recommended that harmful Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3) bacteria be inactivated prior to identification by mass spectrometry, yet optimal effects of inactivation protocol have not been defined. METHODS Here, we compare trifluoroacetic acid inactivation (protocol A) with ethanol inactivation (protocol B) of Yersinia organisms prior to identification by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF-MS). RESULTS The total number of peaks detected was 10.5 ± 1.7 for protocol A and 15.7 ± 4.2 for protocol B (ρ <0.001, ANOVA test). The signal-to-noise ratio for the m/z 6049 peak present in all of the tested Yersinia isolates was 9.7 ± 3.1 for protocol A and 18.1 ± 4.6 for protocol B (ρ < 0.001). Compared with spectra in our local database containing 48 Yersinia spp. , including 20 strains of Y. pestis, the identification score was 1.79 ± 0.2 for protocol A and 1.97 ± 0.19 for protocol B (ρ = 0.0024). CONCLUSIONS Our observations indicate that for the identification of Yersinia organisms, ethanol inactivation yielded MALDI-TOF-MS spectra of significantly higher quality than spectra derived from trifluoroacetic acid inactivation. Combined with previously published data, our results permit the updating of protocols for inactivating BSL-3 bacteria.
Pharmacologic differentiation of inflammation and fibrosis in the rat bleomycin model.

RATIONALE The model most often used to study the pathogenesis of pulmonary fibroses is the bleomycin (BLM)-induced lung fibrosis model. Several treatments have been efficacious in this model, but not in the clinic. OBJECTIVES To describe the time course of inflammation and fibrosis in the BLM model and to study the effect of timing of antiinflammatory and antifibrotic treatments on efficacy. METHODS AND MEASUREMENTS Rats were given single intratracheal injections of BLM on Day 0. At specified time points, 10 rats were killed and their lungs studied for proinflammatory cytokines and for profibrotic growth factor mRNA. After a single intratracheal injection of BLM on Day 0, rats were treated from Day 1 or 10 daily with oral prednisolone (10 mg/kg) or oral imatinib mesylate (50 mg/kg) for 21 d. RESULTS After BLM administration, the expression of inflammatory cytokines was elevated and returned to background levels at later time points. Profibrotic gene expression peaked between Days 9 and 14 and remained elevated till the end of the experiment, suggesting a "switch" between inflammation and fibrosis in this interval. Antiinflammatory treatment (oral prednisolone) was beneficial when commenced at Day 1, but had no effect if administered from Day 10 onward. However, imatinib mesylate was effective independently of the dosing regime. CONCLUSIONS The response of the BLM model to antifibrotic or antiinflammatory interventions is critically dependent on timing after the initial injury.
A pathological approach to anomalies of the posterior fossa.

BACKGROUND Both clinical and postmortem diagnoses of posterior fossa anomalies remain difficult to make and to corroborate. This is particularly true for Dandy-Walker malformation and variant. Difficulties arise for a variety of reasons, including technical and methodological ones, but also because the conditions may overlap anatomically with others, most notably mega cisterna magna, Blake's pouch cyst, and posterior fossa (arachnoid) cysts. Family counseling is difficult and complicated not only by diagnostic uncertainties but by the highly variable prognosis. METHODS In this study, a systematic pathologic approach to study of the posterior fossa is put forth. The benefits of postmortem imaging and in situ and ex situ examination of posterior fossa contents are demonstrated. RESULTS Normative data for cerebellar width (transverse cerebellar diameter) and height and vermian width and height are derived for the fetal period. These data will help workers recognize changes in these structures, particularly hypoplasia. CONCLUSIONS Basic morphologic definitions of posterior fossa anomalies are advanced, in the hopes that better agreement can be reached between clinical and pathologic diagnoses and that better patient and family care will result.
Initiation factor eIF-2 from wheat germ. Purification, functional comparison to eIF-2 from rabbit reticulocytes and phosphorylation of its subunits.

Protein synthesis initiation factor eIF-2 was isolated and purified 4300-fold from wheat germ 23000 ×g supernatant. The procedure described resulted in a 70% pure factor and involves three chromatographic steps only: (a) on Sepharose-heparin, (b) on Sepharose–concanavalin-A and (c) on phosphocellulose. The Sepharose-concanavalin-A column was required for the removal of the bulk of the proteins present in the wheat germ supernatant, its use increased the speed of the procedure considerably. The factor consists of three non-identical subunits in a 1:1:1 stoichiometric ratio with apparent Mr of 56000, 41000 and 36000, which results in an Mr of 133000 for the undissociated factor. The subunits were found to be distinct from those of the eIF-2 from reticulocytes. The factor was tested in the various model reactions of the initiation process such as ternary complex formation with Met-tRNAfMet and GTP, methionyl-puromycin synthesis and in unfractionated wheat germ 23000 ×g supernatant and rabbit reticulocyte 30000 ×g supernatant systems. The results support the idea of an universal mode of action of initiation factors in eukaryotic cells: i.e. the wheat germ factor stimulated the above-mentioned systems in a manner similar to eIF-2 from rabbit reticulocytes. The two factors are fully exchangeable in ternary complex formation (both factors are approximately 30% active, reach maximum levels of [3H]Met-tRNAfMet binding at 0.6 μM GTP and show very little dependence on the Mg2+ concentration) and, provided that small amounts are used, in the assay for methionyl-puromycin and in the crude rabbit reticulocyte lysate. Both factor preparations act as a substrate for a cAMP-independent protein kinase from reticulocytes (hemin-regulated translational inhibitor) which is thought to be responsible for the shut-off of protein synthesis in hemin-deprived lysates from rabbit reticulocytes: the 41000-Mr subunit of wheat germ eIF-2 and the 38000-Mr, subunit of reticulocytes eIF-2 were stoichiometrically phosphorylated in vitro by this inhibitor in the presence of [γ-32P]ATP. Indeed, large amounts of the inhibitor inhibited protein synthesis in crude wheat germ extracts to some extent (25%). However, such an inhibition could not be overcome by the addition of purified eIF-2. Furthermore, when crude wheat germ extracts were incubated with [γ-32P]ATP, the eIF-2 subunit of Mr 36000 (but not the others) became phosphorylated, although no decrease in the rate of protein synthesis could be detected.