Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Clinical practice. Ectopic pregnancy.

Copyright © 2009 Massachusetts Medical Society. A healthy 29-year-old woman who has been trying to conceive presents with vaginal spotting for the past 5 days and intermittent crampy abdominal pain in her left lower quadrant for the past 3 days. Although she normally has regular menstrual cycles, her last menstrual period was 6 weeks and 2 days before presentation. She has had a spontaneous vaginal delivery and an anembryonic gestation treated by dilation and curettage. How should this patient be evaluated and treated?
Approximate sparse recovery: optimizing time and measurements

A Euclidean <i>approximate sparse recovery</i> system consists of parameters k,N, an m-by-N <i>measurement matrix</i>, Φ, and a decoding algorithm, D. Given a vector, x, the system approximates x by ^x=D(Φ x), which must satisfy ||<sup>x</sup> - x||<sub>2</sub>≤ C ||x - x<sub>k</sub>||<sub>2</sub>, where x<sub>k</sub> denotes the optimal k-term approximation to x. (The output ^x may have more than k terms). For each vector x, the system must succeed with probability at least 3/4. Among the goals in designing such systems are minimizing the number m of measurements and the runtime of the decoding algorithm, D. In this paper, we give a system with m=O(k log(N/k)) measurements--matching a lower bound, up to a constant factor--and decoding time k log<sup>{O(1)</sup> N, matching a lower bound up to log(N) factors. We also consider the encode time (<i>i.e.</i>, the time to multiply Φ by x), the time to update measurements (<i>i.e.</i>, the time to multiply Φ by a 1-sparse x), and the robustness and stability of the algorithm (adding noise before and after the measurements). Our encode and update times are optimal up to log(k) factors. The columns of Φ have at most O(log<sup>2</sup>(k)log(N/k)) non-zeros, each of which can be found in constant time. Our full result, an FPRAS, is as follows. If x=x<sub>k</sub>+ν<sub>1</sub>, where ν<sub>1</sub> and ν<sub>2</sub> (below) are arbitrary vectors (regarded as noise), then, setting ^x = D(Φ x + ν<sub>2</sub>), and for properly normalized ν, we get [||^x - x||<sub>2</sub><sup>2</sup> ≤ (1+ε)||ν<sub>1</sub>||<sub>2</sub><sup>2</sup> + ε||ν<sub>2</sub>||<sub>2</sub><sup>2</sup>,] using O((k/ε)log(N/k)) measurements and (k/ε)log<sup>O(1)</sup>(N) time for decoding.
Efficient Bottom-Up Parsing

This paper describes a series of experiments aimed at producing a bottom-up parser that will produce partial parses suitable for use in robust interpretation and still be reasonably efficient. In the course of these experiments, we improved parse times by a factor of 18 over our first attempt, ending with a system that was twice as fast as our previous parser, which relied on strong top-down constraints. The major algorithmic variations we tried are described along with the corresponding performance results.
Language evolution, social phenomena

Results on language coevolution in groups of agents were presented in this paper. The dynamics of language development was shown and discussed in a single group and between two groups of agents. In the first case, three kinds of societies were simulated, i.e.: cooperative, competitive and individual. In the second case, relations were defined for mutualism, competition and predation. Both cases enabled observations on variety of phenomena like adaptation, arms race or chaos.
Associations between expressive and receptive language and internalizing and externalizing behaviours in a community-based prospective study of slow-to-talk toddlers.

BACKGROUND Evidence suggests that language and social, emotional and behavioural (SEB) difficulties are associated in children and adolescents. When these associations emerge and whether they differ by language or SEB difficulty profile is unclear. This knowledge is crucial to guide prevention and intervention programmes for children with language and SEB difficulties. AIMS To determine whether receptive and expressive language skills are associated with internalizing and externalizing behaviours in slow-to-talk toddlers. METHODS & PROCEDURES In a community-based prospective study of 200 slow-to-talk children, language was measured at 24 and 36 months using Preschool Language Scale 4th Edition and at 48 months using Clinical Evaluation of Language Fundamentals-Preschool 2nd Edition. Internalizing and externalizing behaviours were measured by parent report at each age. Longitudinal data were analysed using repeated-measures regression, with up to three observations per child. Robust standard errors were used to account for non-independence of measures within participants. The shape of the associations were examined by fitting quadratic and cubic terms. The effects of confounders on the associations were examined. OUTCOMES & RESULTS Receptive language had a negative linear association with internalizing behaviours after adjusting for confounders (β = -0.16, 95% [CI = -0.26, -0.07], p = .001); and a negative curved association with externalizing behaviours after adjusting for biological confounders (βquadratic = 0.08 [0.01, 0.15], p = .03, βcubic = -0.04 [-0.07, -0.02], p = .001), attenuating after adjusting for environmental confounders (βquadratic = 0.06 [-0.01, 0.13], p = .09, βcubic = -0.03 [-0.06, -0.003], p = .03). The curvature suggests that the negative association with externalizing behaviours only existed for children with either very low or very high receptive language scores. After controlling for confounders, there was no evidence that expressive language scores were associated with internalizing (β = -0.08, 95% [CI = -0.17, 0.01], p = .10) or externalizing behaviours (β = 0.03, 95% [CI = -0.09, 0.18], p = .61). Tests of interaction revealed no evidence of a differential association by age. CONCLUSIONS & IMPLICATIONS In 24-48-month-old slow-to-talk children, lower receptive language scores were associated with higher internalizing behaviours. The magnitude of the association was small. For children with very poor receptive language scores, lower receptive language skills were associated with higher externalizing behaviours. Young children with low receptive language abilities may be at risk of internalizing difficulties; those with very low receptive language skills may be at particular risk of externalizing difficulties. This has clinical implications for interventions for young children with receptive language difficulties.
Inefficient dystrophin expression after cord blood transplantation in Duchenne muscular dystrophy

We report a boy who received two allogeneic stem cell transplantations from umbilical cord donors to treat chronic granulomatous disease (CGD). The CGD was cured after the second transplantation, but 2.5 years later he was diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD). Examinations of his DNA, muscle tissue, and myoblast cultures derived from muscle tissue were performed to determine whether any donor dystrophin was being expressed. The boy was found to have a large‐scale deletion on the X chromosome that spanned the loci for CYBB and DMD. The absence of dystrophin led to muscle histology characteristic of DMD. Analysis of myofibers demonstrated no definite donor cell engraftment. This case suggests that umbilical cord–derived hematopoietic stem cell transplantation will not be efficacious in the therapy of DMD without additional interventions that induce engraftment of donor cells in skeletal muscle. Muscle Nerve, 2010
An asynchronous hierarchical router for networks‐on‐chip‐based three‐dimensional multi‐processor system‐on‐chip

Three‐dimensional networks‐on‐chip (3D NoC) are rising as a good approach to well managed complex interconnections in 3D multi‐processor system‐on‐chip (MPSoC). This paper introduces a new router in order to enhance throughput and latency compared to classic 3D mesh NoC. The proposed router is hierarchical as it is composed of two completely decoupled modules: one for inter‐layer communication and one for intra‐layer communication. It is fully implemented in asynchronous logic to allow low latency transfer.
Pds1p Is Required for Meiotic Recombination and Prophase I Progression in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Sister-chromatid separation at the metaphase–anaphase transition is regulated by a proteolytic cascade. Destruction of the securin Pds1p liberates the Esp1p separase, which ultimately targets the mitotic cohesin Mcd1p/Scc1p for destruction. Pds1p stabilization by the spindle or DNA damage checkpoints prevents sister-chromatid separation while mutants lacking PDS1 (pds1Δ) are temperature sensitive for growth due to elevated chromosome loss. This report examined the role of the budding yeast Pds1p in meiotic progression using genetic, cytological, and biochemical assays. Similar to its mitotic function, Pds1p destruction is required for metaphase I–anaphase I transition. However, even at the permissive temperature for growth, pds1Δ mutants arrest with prophase I spindle and nuclear characteristics. This arrest was partially suppressed by preventing recombination initiation or by inactivating a subset of recombination checkpoint components. Further studies revealed that Pds1p is required for recombination in both double-strand-break formation and synaptonemal complex assembly. Although deleting PDS1 did not affect the degradation of the meiotic cohesin Rec8p, Mcd1p was precociously destroyed as cells entered the meiotic program. This role is meiosis specific as Mcd1p destruction is not altered in vegetative pds1Δ cultures. These results define a previously undescribed role for Pds1p in cohesin maintenance, recombination, and meiotic progression.
Dengue Virus in Sub-tropical Northern and Central Viet Nam: Population Immunity and Climate Shape Patterns of Viral Invasion and Maintenance

Dengue virus transmission occurs in both epidemic and endemic cycles across tropical and sub-tropical regions of the world. Incidence is particularly high in much of Southeast Asia, where hyperendemic transmission plagues both urban and rural populations. However, endemicity has not been established in some areas with climates that may not support year-round viral transmission. An understanding of how dengue viruses (DENV) enter these environments and whether the viruses persist in inapparent local transmission cycles is central to understanding how dengue emerges in areas at the margins of endemic transmission. Dengue is highly endemic in tropical southern Vietnam, while increasingly large seasonal epidemics have occurred in northern Viet Nam over the last decade. We have investigated the spread of DENV-1 throughout Vietnam to determine the routes by which the virus enters northern and central regions of the country. Phylogeographic analysis of 1,765 envelope (E) gene sequences from Southeast Asia revealed frequent movement of DENV between neighboring human populations and strong local clustering of viral lineages. Long-distance migration of DENV between human population centers also occurred regularly and on short time-scales, indicating human-mediated viral invasion into northern Vietnam. Human populations in southern Vietnam were found to be the primary source of DENV circulating throughout the country, while central and northern Vietnam acted as sink populations, likely due to reduced connectedness to other populations in the case of the central regions and to the influence of temperature variability on DENV replication and vector survival and competence in the north. Finally, phylogeographic analyses suggested that viral movement follows a gravity model and indicates that population immunity and physical and economic connections between populations may play important roles in shaping patterns of DENV transmission.
F₀-Based Rhythm Effects on the Perception of Local Syllable Prominence

Abstract A perception experiment shows for German that different global, F₀-based speech rhythms in the context section of stimuli influence the local prominence position in the target section. This effect may be conceptualized as a perceptual adjustment of the syllables in the target section to the ones of the global rhythmic context with regard to both the prominence and the F₀ patterns. Two conclusions were drawn on this basis. First, listeners use speech rhythm to predict the perceptual properties of syllables, which is in line with the guide function that speech rhythm is assumed to have in German and other Western Germanic languages. Secondly, speech rhythm is a perceptual phenomenon, generated by a cyclic construction process that involves repetitive patterns in multiple dimensions. Thus, although speech rhythm is initiated by changes in acoustic parameters, it cannot be soaked up by acoustic measurements, especially, if these measurements refer to duration alone.
Advances in Forest Inventory Using Airborne Laser Scanning

We present two improvements for laser-based forest inventory. The first improvement is based on using last pulse data for tree detection. When trees overlap, the surface model between the trees corresponding to the first pulse stays high, whereas the corresponding model from the last pulse results in a drop in elevation, due to its better penetration between the trees. This drop in elevation can be used for separating trees. In a test carried out in Evo, Southern Finland, we used 292 forests plots consisting of more than 5,500 trees and airborne laser scanning (ALS) data comprised of 12.7 emitted laser pulses per m2. With last pulse data, an improvement of 6% for individual tree detection was obtained when compared to using first pulse data. The improvement increased with an increasing number of stems per plot and with decreasing diameter breast height (DBH). The results confirm that there is also substantial information for tree detection in last pulse data. The second improvement is based on the use of individual tree-based features in addition to the statistical point height metrics in area-based prediction of forest variables. The commonly-used ALS point height metrics and individual tree-based features were fused into the non-parametric estimation of forest variables. By using only four individual tree-based features, stem volume estimation improved when compared to the use of statistical point height metrics. For DBH estimation, the point height metrics and individual tree-based features complemented each other. Predictions were validated at plot level.
Characterization of an Active Partition System for the Enterococcus faecalis Pheromone-Responding Plasmid pAD1

ABSTRACT Enterococcus faecalis plasmid pAD1 is a 60-kb conjugative, low-copy-number plasmid that encodes a mating response to the peptide sex pheromone cAD1 and a cytolytic exotoxin that contributes to virulence. Although aspects of conjugation have been studied extensively, relatively little is known about the control of pAD1 maintenance. Previous work on pAD1 identified a 5-kb region of DNA sufficient to support replication, copy control, and stable inheritance (K. E. Weaver, D. B. Clewell, and F. An, J. Bacteriol. 175:1900-1909, 1993), and recently, the pAD1 replication initiator (RepA) and the origin of vegetative replication (oriV) were characterized (M. V. Francia, S. Fujimoto, P. Tille, K. E. Weaver, and D. B. Clewell, J. Bacteriol. 186:5003-5016, 2004). The present study focuses on the adjacent determinants repB and repC, as well as a group of 25 8-bp direct repeats (iterons with the consensus sequence TAGTARRR) located between the divergently transcribed repA and repB. Through mutagenesis and trans-complementation experiments, RepB (a 33-kDa protein, a member of the ParA superfamily of ATPases) and RepC (a protein of 14.4 kDa) were shown to be required for maximal stabilization. Both were active in trans. The iteron region was shown to act as the pAD1 centromere-like site. Purified RepC was shown by DNA mobility shift and DNase I footprinting analyses to interact in a sequence-specific manner with the iteron repeats upstream of the repBC locus. The binding of RepC to the iteron region was shown to be modified by RepB in the presence of ATP via a possible interaction with the RepC-iteron complex. RepB did not bind to the iteron region in the absence of RepC.
A review of murine models of latent tuberculosis infection

Abstract The mechanisms of latency and the causes of reactivation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis remain poorly understood; an important reason for this gap in knowledge is the absence of a standardized animal model of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI). A complete LTBI model should incorporate 2 aspects of LTBI: a persistent infection model with a low bacterial load and a latent infection model that is modified from the Cornell model. Many parameters must be carefully considered to establish an LTBI model, including the inoculating dose, the route of infection, the time interval between infection and the initiation of antibiotic therapy, and the genetic background of the host animal. The responsiveness of this mouse model of LTBI can be assessed through the integrated use of indices, including Karnofsky performance status, bacterial load in spleen and lungs, induced levels of interferon-gamma and tumour necrosis factor-alpha, expression of interleukin (IL)-10 and IL-4 in tissues, specific antigen load in organs, time required for hormone-induced TB relapse, expression level of dormancy genes, and CD4 T-cell count.
Initialization : a Taxonomy

The availability of an initial background model that describes the scene without foreground objects is the prerequisite for a wide range of applications, ranging from video surveillance to computational photography. Limited attention to the problem is given in the literature on background modeling, that mainly regards model representation and updating. Therefore, we propose a taxonomy study for background initialization, providing the basis for a fair and easy comparison of existing and future methods, on a common dataset of groundtruthed sequences, with a common set of metrics, and based on reproducible results. Experimental results highlight the most promising approaches as well as main open issues for background initialization. c © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Geometry-Aware Feature Matching for Structure from Motion Applications

We present a two-stage, geometry-aware approach for matching SIFT-like features in a fast and reliable manner. Our approach first uses a small sample of features to estimate the epipolar geometry between the images and leverages it for guided matching of the remaining features. This simple and generalized two-stage matching approach produces denser feature correspondences while allowing us to formulate an accelerated search strategy to gain significant speedup over the traditional matching. The traditional matching punitively rejects many true feature matches due to a global ratio test. The adverse effect of this is particularly visible when matching image pairs with repetitive structures. The geometry-aware approach prevents such pre-emptive rejection using a selective ratio-test and works effectively even on scenes with repetitive structures. We also show that the proposed algorithm is easy to parallelize and implement it on the GPU. We experimentally validate our algorithm on publicly available datasets and compare the results with state-of-the-art methods.
A Case-Based Approach for Action Selection and Coordination in Robot Soccer Gameplays

Designing a robot’s behavior in imprecise, uncertain, dynamic, unpredictable and real-time response domains is very challenging, and even more if an adversarial component is also present. An example of such domains is the robot soccer. In this work we propose the use of Case-Based Reasoning techniques to handle all these features in the action selection problem of a team of robots. Moreover, we are also interested in obtaining a cooperative behavior among robots to successfully perform joint tasks. Thus, we include explicit passes between robots, not only to enhance collaboration, but also to face the adversarial component of the domain, i.e. the opponents. We evaluate our approach with respect to a reactive approach in 2 vs. 2 scenarios, where two attackers play against two moving opponents, i.e. a defender and a goalie. We successfully show that our approach not only achieves the expected team behavior, but also outperforms in general the compared approach.
The Natural History of pT1 Colorectal Cancer

Colorectal carcinoma invading the submucosa but not the muscular layer (pT1, early invasive cancer) represents the earliest form of clinically relevant colorectal cancer in most patients. Neoplastic invasion of the submucosa, in fact, opens the way to metastasis via the lymphatic and blood vessels, and the choice between surveillance and major surgery will turn on its metastatic potential. The following histological features predict the risk of metastasis and the different clinical outcomes: grade of differentiation of carcinoma, lymphovascular invasion, state of the resection margin. Microstaging of invasive cancer, namely the width and the depth of submucosal invasion, together with tumor budding at the advancing edge allow the metastatic risk to be further stratified in minimal, low, and high. Different, although morphologically undistinguishable, tumorigenic pathways are supposed to lead to the malignant transformation of colonic mucosa and subsequently to drive the progression from early to advanced cancer: new biomarkers are needed to identify progressive and non-progressive pT1 neoplasia.
Photomechanical Response in Graphene Nanoplatelet Composites

Large light-induced reversible and elastic stress responses in graphene nanoplatelet (GNP) polymer composites are reported. Homogeneous mixtures of GNP/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) composites (0.1–5 wt%) were prepared and their near-infrared (NIR) mechanical responses studied with increasing pre-strains. Using NIR illumination, a photomechanically induced change in stress of four orders of magnitude as compared to pristine PDMS polymer was measured. Actuation responses of graphene polymer composites depended on applied prestrains. At low levels of pre-strain (3–9%) the actuators showed reversible expansion while at high levels (15–40%) actuators exhibited reversible contraction. For the same fabrication method, GNP/PDMS composites exhibited higher actuation stresses compared to all other forms of nanostructured carbon/PDMS composites tested.
About usability of mobile e-learning applications on an example of an UML-Quiz

In this paper we investigate the challenges of interaction design of mobile e-learning applications on an example of a quiz. Starting with the evaluation results of a previous application (UMLQuiziOS) to facilitate mobile e-learning for our students at our university and based on related research and technology in this area, we re-designed, re-developed, and re-evaluated a new version of the same quiz by optimizing its usability and interaction mechanisms. The resulting UML-QuizAndroid supports the learning process in a lecture of the computer science bachelor program at our university, called object oriented modelling techniques. It facilitates a playful way of understanding and implicit learning of differences between diverse modelling techniques. Our first evaluation with students and some other users show very promising results that we present and discuss in this paper.