Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Using Optical Flow to Reduce Noise in Image Sequences

In this paper we propose a method for noise reduction in image sequences, based on the optical flow, consisting in tracking each pixel’s position in the previous and following images. In some cases the optical flow imperfections can cause artifacts. To prevent them we also propose an improvement to the method based on the estimation of the imperfections of the optical flow. Using that estimation we adaptatively choose either a temporal or a spatial based noise reduction algorithm to be applied in different image zones. Our results show an important noise reduction, even with complex image sequences.
Diagnosis and therapy of anogenital lichen planus

ABSTRACT: Genital lichen planus is a fairly common disease of genital skin that exhibits a widely variable morphology. Lichen planus occurring on the mucosal surfaces is chronic, and most often erosive and painful, frequently producing debilitating scarring. Mild, non‐erosive disease is controllable with topical corticosteroids. Although erosive disease is much more difficult to manage, the use of topical corticosteroids, sometimes in combination with other topical or systemic medications, maximizes comfort and preserves function, especially with careful attention to local care and secondary infection.
Effective Constipation Treatment Changes More Than Bowel Frequency: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background/Aims The marketing of newer agents for treatment of constipation and irritable bowel syndrome with constipation (IBS-C) emphasize improvements in abdominal pain. However, it is not clear whether this observation reflects a unique visceral analgesic effect of these agents or is a general feature of effective laxation. We sought to determine the relationship between improvements in bowel frequency and decreases in abdominal pain in clinical trials of patients with constipation or IBS-C. Methods We searched “PubMed” and “Embase” databanks for clinical trials in patients with constipation or IBS-C, targeting publications that provided detailed data on bowel movement frequency and pain intensity before and after an intervention. We abstracted the results and performed meta-analytic and meta-regression analyses. Results Twenty-seven trials (16 constipation and 11 IBS) met entry criteria. Baseline weekly bowel movement frequency was low with 2.35 (2.07–2.64) with differences between constipation (2.00 [1.62–2.38]) and IBS-C (2.77 [2.40–3.14]; Q = 8.18; P = 0.002). Studies reported moderate pain levels (2.12 [1.81–2.42]) with comparable baseline levels in constipation (2.02 [1.63–2.42]) and IBS-C (2.35 [2.10–2.60]; Q = 1.92; P = 0.167). Treatments increased bowel frequency by 2.17 [1.88–2.47] and lowered pain ratings by 0.58 [0.49–0.68]. Meta-regression demonstrated a significant correlation between treatment-induced increases in bowel frequency and decreased pain ratings. Conclusions Our analysis suggests that reduction of abdominal pain observed in clinical trials of constipation and IBS-C is associated with laxation, and may not require specific drug mechanisms, thus arguing against a unique advantage of newer agents over traditional laxatives in the treatment of constipation and IBS-C.
Enteral tube feeding in the intensive care unit: factors impeding adequate delivery.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate those factors that impact on the delivery of enteral tube feeding. DESIGN Prospective study. SETTING Medical intensive care units (ICU) and coronary care units at two university-based hospitals. PATIENTS Forty-four medical ICU/coronary care unit patients (mean age, 57.8 yrs; 70% male) who were to receive nothing by mouth and were placed on enteral tube feeding. INTERVENTIONS Rate of enteral tube feeding ordered, actual volume delivered, patient position, residual volume, flush volume, presence of blue food coloring in oropharynx, and stool frequency were recorded every 4 hrs. Duration and reason for cessation of enteral tube feeding were documented. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Physicians ordered a daily mean volume of enteral tube feeding that was 65.6% of goal requirements, but an average of only 78.1% of the volume ordered was actually infused. Thus, patients received a mean volume of enteral tube feeding for all 339 days of infusion that was 51.6% of goal (range, 15.1% to 87.1%). Only 14% of patients reached > or = 90% of goal feeding (for a single day) within 72 hrs of the start of enteral tube feeding infusion. Of 24 patients weighed before and after, 54% were noted to lose weight on enteral tube feeding. Declining albumin levels through the enteral tube feeding period correlated significantly with decreasing percent of goal calories infused (p = .042; r2 = .13). Diarrhea occurred in 23 patients (52.3%) for a mean 38.2% of enteral tube feeding days. In >1490 bedside evaluations, patients were observed to be in the supine position only 0.45%, residual volume of >200 mL was found 2.8%, and blue food coloring was found in the oropharynx 5.1% of the time. Despite this, cessation of enteral tube feeding occurred in 83.7% of patients for a mean 19.6% of the potential infusion time. Sixty-six percent of the enteral tube feeding cessations was judged to be attributable to avoidable causes. CONCLUSIONS The current manner in which enteral tube feeding is delivered in the ICU results in grossly inadequate nutritional support. Barely one half of patient caloric requirements are met because of underordering by physicians and reduced delivery through frequent and often inappropriate cessation of feedings.
Violence among siblings and joint placement: a review of the literature

The question of joint placement arises when making the decision to place children of the same siblingship as part of the protective measures taken in the case of parental mistreatment, particularly when there is evidence of mistreatment among the siblings. This paper reviews 219 recent articles addressing the joint placement of brothers and sisters and/or mistreatment within siblingships. The authors refer to the different theories, methods and questions related to this issue and the tools that have been used, as well as the main results are reviewed here. In particular, the indications and contraindications of joint placement of siblings and its effects and factors as well as the psychopathological consequences of intra-sibling violence will also be addressed. This paper shows the need for further research in this area, in particular, so as to refine the methodologies and tools used to analyse the relationships between siblings before, during and after their placement.
When do children learn? The relationship between existing knowledge and learning

Cognitive psychologists have devoted far more attention to examining people's existing knowledge than their ability to acquire new knowledge. However, methods that were originally developed to study problem solving, elementary information processes, and semantic memory are beginning to be extended to the study of learning. The research described in this article uses one recently developed method, the rule‐assessment approach, to examine the relationship between existing knowledge and the ability to learn. The rule‐assessment approach is shown to be useful in characterizing children's initial knowledge, in classifying incoming information in relation to that knowledge, and in identifying the precise difficulties that prevent children from acquiring more advanced knowledge. The findings suggest that techniques from cognitive psychology can be applied profitably to the study of acquisition processes and that the topic of learning soon will assume its rightful role as a central concern of cognitive psychologists.
The capacity of adaptive group testing

We define capacity for group testing problems and deduce bounds for the capacity of a variety of noisy models, based on the capacity of equivalent noisy communication channels. For noiseless adaptive group testing we prove an information-theoretic lower bound which tightens a bound of Chan et al. This can be combined with a performance analysis of a version of Hwang's adaptive group testing algorithm, in order to deduce the capacity of noiseless and erasure group testing models.
On the formal expression of natural rules in phonology

While the notion of naturalness or plausibility has been a tacit guiding principle for past generations of phonologists, the effort to accord the notion of naturalness a theoretical status and to incorporate this notion into the descriptive formalism of a linguistic theory was a major innovation by the generative school. In accordance with what we may refer to as the ‘formalness condition’, the generativist requires that the substantive naturalness of a phonological process be explicitly recognizable in the very formalism used to state the process. The lively interest in and the on-going search for a ‘natural’ phonology is very much in evidence, witness, e.g., the titles of papers presented at the 1971 Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America.
Machlup's misrepresentation of Hutchison's methodology

Hutchison's 1938 essay has been mainly interpreted as introducing positivism and ultra-empiricism into economics. Such interpretations misrepresent his position. While he clearly drew on logical positivism, his methodology stems from a more moderate form of empiricism. However the issue at stake is not the exact degree of Hutchison's empiricism, but rather the extent to which such negative labelling has trivialised his position and distracted attention from the main concern of his 1938 essay. This was to mount a sustained and systematic criticism of the traditional abstract-deductive method in economics. In its place Hutchison sought to promote a more empirical, inductive approach. The paper is concerned with demonstrating the extent to which Machlup failed to provide evidence of Hutchison's ultra-empiricism. It thereby seeks to clear the way towards a reappraisal of Hutchison's methodology and towards a reappraisal of its relevance in our post-positivist era.
Impact of highly and less job-related diversity on work group cohesion and performance: a meta-analysis

A meta-analysis of the data from empirical investigations of diversity in work groups was used to examine the impact of two types of diversity attributes, highly job-related and less job-related, on work group cohesion and performance. This distinction was used to test the proposition that different types of diversity will differentially impact work group cohesion and performance. In addition, type of team was examined as a possible moderator of the relationship between diversity and performance. Results showed that neither type of diversity had a relationship with cohesion or performance. Explanations and directions for future research are offered.
Dose-dependent nuclear β-catenin response segregates endomesoderm along the sea star primary axis

In many invertebrates, the nuclearization of β-catenin at one pole of the embryo initiates endomesoderm specification. An intriguing possibility is that a gradient of nuclear β-catenin (nβ-catenin), similar to that operating in vertebrate neural tube patterning, functions to distinguish cell fates in invertebrates. To test this hypothesis, we determined the function of nβ-catenin during the early development of the sea star, which undergoes a basal deuterostomal mode of embryogenesis. We show that low levels of nβ-catenin activity initiate bra, which is expressed in the future posterior endoderm-fated territory; intermediate levels are required for expression of foxa and gata4/5/6, which are later restricted to the endoderm; and activation of ets1 and erg in the mesoderm-fated territory requires the highest nβ-catenin activity. Transcription factors acting downstream of high nβ-catenin segregate the endoderm/mesoderm boundary, which is further reinforced by Delta/Notch signaling. Significantly, therefore, in sea stars, endomesoderm segregation arises through transcriptional responses to levels of nβ-catenin activity. Here, we describe the first empirical evidence of a dose-dependent response to a dynamic spatiotemporal nβ-catenin activity that patterns cell fates along the primary axis in an invertebrate. Summary: A spatiotemporal gradient of Wnt signaling, which is known to pattern early vertebrate embryos, regulates the segregation of cell fate in the invertebrate sea star embryo.
Parsing Intentions of Speech

This paper is aimed at revealing the inner structures of intentions of speech through demonstrating a method of parsing intentions of speech. The intentions of speech are parsed separately, which is inspired by Searle's notation ( ) . In this research, both the propositional content and the illocutionary forces are represented as semantic frames, the categories of which are combined together with syntactic rules of Categorial Grammar. This method is implemented in a grammar system programed in ALE a logic programming language based on the logic of Typed Feature Structures.
A Novel Data Extraction and Alignment Method for Web Databases

Online databases, also called web databases, comprise the deep web tag and value. Compared with WebPages in the surface web, which can be accessed by using a unique URL, pages in the deep web are dynamically generated in response to a user query submitted through the query interface of a web database. Upon receiving a user's query, a web database returns the relevant data, either structured or semi structured, encoded in the HTML pages. Many web applications, such as data integration, met querying and comparison shopping, need the data from multiple web databases. For these applications to further utilize the data embedded in HTML pages, the automatic data extraction is necessary. Only when the data are extracted and organized in a structured manner, such as tables, can they be aggregated and compared. Hence, accurate data extraction is vital for these applications to perform process correctly. This paper focuses on the problem of automatically extracting data records that are encoded in the query result pages generated from web databases.
Review: Adoption, fostering, and the needs of looked-after and adopted children.

BACKGROUND This review of the literature examines adoption, fostering, and the needs of looked-after and adopted children. Three domains of research about looked-after children are examined. FINDINGS There is extensive evidence that early adverse experiences affect psychological and neurobiological development in looked-after and adopted children. There is also evidence that some looked-after and adopted children show remarkable resilience in the face of adversity; intervention research provides evidence of the ability to reduce risks and promote positive outcomes in this population. The intervention studies have revealed not only the potential for improved behavioral trajectories, but also the plasticity of neurobiological systems affected by early stress. CONCLUSION Foster and adopted children face many challenges, but scientific knowledge also provides reason for hope and information about how to maximize positive outcomes.
Pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties of antimicrobials in the therapy of respiratory tract infections

Antimicrobial pharmacodynamics examines the relationship between the pharmacokinetics of a drug over time and its treatment effect. Pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic parameters have been shown to be predictors of the antimicrobial activity of a variety of drugs. The pharmacodynamic parameter linked to efficacy has been demonstrated to vary for different antimicrobial classes. Within an antimicrobial class, the magnitude of the pharmacodynamic parameter predictive of efficacy has been shown to be similar, as long as free-drug levels in serum are considered. Treatment outcome predictions based upon parameter magnitudes have correlated well and have been useful for assessing the future course of both susceptible and resistant pathogens of the respiratory tract. This has been useful for the development of susceptibility breakpoints and antimicrobial treatment guidelines. Recent studies have begun to investigate the relationship between antimicrobial pharmacodynamics and the prevention of drug resistance.
Track compensation and calibration of continuous monitoring GEOSAR missions

The paper analyzes the problem of achieving a coherent operation in Geostationary SAR (GEOSAR) missions intended for continuous monitoring of land surfaces. In contrast to LEOSAR missions, GEOSAR uses very long SAR integration times (from minutes to hours). Accordingly phase errors due to orbit perturbations, radar master oscillator drift, atmosphere propagation and other sources must be conveniently compensated during SAR processing to avoid image defocusing. A network of Active Radar Calibrators (ARC) distributed on the observed scene is proposed, providing echo envelope and phase observations before Synthetic Aperture Processing. In this way the radar antenna phase center trajectory and other phase error sources can be continuously tracked and compensated using a pyramidal sub-aperture processing approach.
Fine-needle aspiration of papillary thyroid carcinoma: distinguishing between cases that performed well and those that performed poorly in the College of American Pathologists Nongynecologic Cytology Program.

CONTEXT Although the cytologic features of papillary thyroid carcinoma in fine-needle aspiration specimens are well known, the correlation of these features with the ability of cytologists to identify this tumor has not been well studied. OBJECTIVE To compare the cytologic features of cases of papillary thyroid carcinoma that performed poorly with those of cases that performed well. DESIGN The cytologic features of 13 cases of papillary thyroid carcinoma from the College of American Pathologists Nongynecologic Cytology Program that performed poorly were compared with those of 15 cases that performed well. RESULTS Compared with cases that performed well, cases that performed poorly were significantly more likely to lack marked nuclear enlargement (38% vs 100%, P < .001), lack pale chromatin (8% vs 47%, P = .04), and lack intranuclear inclusions (8% vs 53%, P = .02). The differences between the 2 groups in staining, type of preparation, nuclear grooves, nuclear crowding, colloid, cellularity, nuclear pleomorphism, and Hurthle cell change were not significant. CONCLUSIONS Cases of papillary thyroid carcinoma that lack marked nuclear enlargement, pale chromatin, and intranuclear inclusions are significantly more difficult to recognize than cases that have these features. Increased awareness of these types of cases might improve the performance of thyroid fine-needle aspiration in clinical practice.
Student Motivation and Study Strategies in University and College of Advanced Education Populations

ABSTRACT A “study process complex” comprising three major motives (instrumental, intrinsic and achievement) and three cognate learning/study strategies (reproducing, meaning and organising), is described. The Study Process Questionnaire (SPQ) is an instrument designed to tap these motives and strategies in tertiary students. It is hypothesized that patterns of motivations and study strategies would be typically different between students in colleges of advanced education (CAE's) and universities, given the natures of these two sectors of tertiary education. The SPQ was administered to over 2,000 students in five universities and nine CAE's in five states, and students’ motive and strategy scores were compared. University students were found to be more intrinsically motivated, and more likely to use meaning and organising strategies. CAE students were more instrumentally motivated and more likely to use the reproductive strategy. University students who rated themselves “excellent” were intrinsically motiv.
Television images and adolescent girls' body image disturbance

The impact of media images on adolescents' body image and thin ideal endorsement has been consistently asserted in the body image literature, yet has remained inadequately tested. I used social comparison theory and critical viewing with a sample of 214 high school girls to predict adolescents' body-image disturbance and thin ideal endorsement. Media variables accounted fr 15% of the variance for drive for thinness, 17% for body dissatisfaction, 16% for bulimic behaviors, and 33% for thin ideal endorsement. Results suggest that body image processing is the boy to understanding how television images affect adolescent girls' body-image attitudes and behaviors.
Relative resistance to Mammalian target of rapamycin inhibition in vascular smooth muscle cells of diabetic donors.

BACKGROUND Diabetes mellitus is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Intimal thickening, a component of cardiovascular disease, entails the proliferation and migration of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs). Inhibition of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) blocks VSMC proliferation, in part through an increase in the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, p27(Kip1). The use of mTOR inhibitors, such as rapamycin, is effective clinically in inhibiting intimal thickening. This efficacy is reduced in diabetic subjects, however, suggesting a change in the role of the mTOR pathway in intimal thickening under diabetic conditions. METHODS To examine whether diabetes induced changes in the role of mTOR in VSMC proliferation, we compared the response to rapamycin of human coronary artery VSMCs from diabetic (DM-huCASMC [human coronary artery smooth muscle cell]) and nondiabetic (ND-huCASMC) subjects. RESULTS The DM-huCASMCs exhibited a relative resistance to rapamycin's inhibition of proliferation. Activation of the mTOR effector p70(S6kinase) was inhibited in rapamycin-treated DM-huCASMCs as in ND-huCASMCs. While ND-huCASMCs exhibited the normal increase in p27(Kip1) in response to rapamycin treatment, the DM-huCASMCs did not. Additionally, activation of the extracellular signal response kinase pathway was increased in the DM-huCASMCs, suggesting a potential pathway mediating the mTOR-independent decrease in p27(Kip1). CONCLUSION We conclude that diabetes is accompanied by a relative resistance to the effects of mTOR inhibition on VSMC proliferation through a loss of mTOR's effects on p27(Kip1) levels. These data provide insight into the effects of insulin resistance on the role of mTOR in regulating intimal thickening.
Utterance events and indirect speech

The present paper presents a unified analysis of free and embedded indirect speech, with a specific focus on German. First we need a context-based analysis of indexicals (rigid/shiftable) which can capture their orientation in uses in indirect speech. The analysis includes a treatment of the German reportative subjunctive as a shiftable indexical tense. Indirect speech in embedded clauses of the type Peter said that S forces us to extend this context-based analysis of indexicals by an adequate link to the matrix clause. I assume that the event introduced by the matrix verb (‘say’, ‘think’ etc.) provides the context parameter for the embedded clause. The resulting analysis makes correct predictions for a wide range of phenomena such as quantification over embedded speech, embedding under passive clauses and indirect speech in nominalizations.