Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multiscale, image-based interpretation of well logs acquired in a complex, deepwater carbonate reservoir

Multiscale, image-based interpretation of well logs acquired in a complex, deepwater carbonate reservoir Rodolfo Araujo Victor, PhD The University of Texas at Austin, 2017 Co-Supervisors: Maša Prodanović and Carlos Torres-Verdı́n Carbonate formations hold a large percentage of the world’s hydrocarbon reserves. Their petrophysical evaluation via well logs and core data faces significant technical challenges because of the coexistence of multiscale pore features affecting fluid-transport phenomena. The combined effects of diagenesis, solid dissolution, and recrystallization in carbonate rocks give rise to pores ranging from centimeter-size vug openings to submicron microporosity. In turn, the wide variability of pore sizes, pore shapes, pore textures, and pore connectivity gives rise to multiple length-dependent flow regimes. New data sources have allowed many porous-media processes to be observed or numerically simulated in detail for the first time; they have also helped to understand flow mechanisms that have a direct impact on hydrocarbon recovery. Spatial imaging techniques such as computed tomography (CT) are now applied routinely to acquire 3D images of both laboratory samples and whole core. Those images reveal fine features of rock structure, pore topology, and mineral spatial distribution, in addition to enabling the numerical simulation of several physical phenomena taking place inside the pore space. Methods used to analyze rock
Getting Return on Quality: Revenue Expansion, Cost Reduction, or Both?

Financial benefits from quality may be derived from revenue expansion, cost reduction, or both simultaneously. The literature on both market orientation and customer satisfaction provides considerable support for the effectiveness of the revenue expansion perspective, whereas the literature on both quality and operations provides equally impressive support for the effectiveness of the cost reduction perspective. There is, however, little evidence for the effectiveness of attempting both revenue expansion and cost reduction simultaneously, and some of what little empirical and theoretical literature is available suggests that emphasizing both simultaneously may not work. In a study of managers in firms seeking to obtain a financial return from quality improvements, the authors address the issue of which quality profitability emphasis (revenue expansion, cost reduction, or both) is most effective. The authors examine firm performance using managers' reports of firm performance and longitudinal secondary data on firm profitability and stock returns. Although it is clear that no company can neglect either revenue expansion or cost reduction, the empirical results suggest that firms that adopt primarily a revenue expansion emphasis perform better than firms that try to emphasize cost reduction and better than firms that try to emphasize both revenue expansion and cost reduction simultaneously. The results have implications with respect to how both theory and practice view organizational efforts to achieve financial returns from quality improvements.
Efficient Fingerprint Recognition Through Improvement of Feature Level Clustering, Indexing and Matching Using Discrete Cosine Transform

Fingerprint recognition refers to the automated method of verifying a match between two human fingerprints. Fingerprints are one of many forms of biometrics used to identify an individual and verify the identity. Because of their uniqueness and consistency over time, fingerprints have been used for over a century, more recently becoming automated biometric due to advancement in computing capabilities. Fingerprint identification is popular because of the inherent ease in acquisition, the numerour sources available for collection. In order to design a Fingerprint recognition system, the choice of feature extractor is very crucial and extraction of pertinent features from two-dimensional images of human finger plays an important role. A major challenge in Fingerprint recognition today is to select the low dimensional representative features and to reduce the search space for identification process. The framework for the Fingerprint recognition system, as shown in Fig.1. 1 consists of three phases. i) Feature extraction and representation phase, ii) Featurelevel Clustering, iii) Indexing and Fingerprint Matching. The three phases of fingerprint recognition framework are detailed in the following sections.
Diseño de Redes Inalámbricas como Infraestructura Tecnológica para Facilitar el Acceso a Internet en Entornos Rurales del Cantón Ambato de la Provincia de Tungurahua

Las redes inalambricas son un fenomeno que ha crecido de forma muy significativa en los ultimos anos, gracias al reducido costo de implantacion, a la facilidad de uso en hogares, oficinas y empresas y a las altas tasas de transmision que ofrecen. Estas caracteristicas tan significativas han sido trasladadas al entorno rural mediante el uso de diversas tecnicas y metodologias que las hacen aptas para este tipo de entorno. Trabajos realizados por grupos de investigacion como el Digital Gangetic Plains (DGP) en India, o el Technology and Infraestructure for Emerging Regions (TIER) en Estados Unidos, han demostrado que se pueden realizar enlaces PtP (punto a punto) de varias decenas de kilometros sobre hardware WiFi, obteniendo prestaciones razonables.Ambas aproximaciones se basan en reemplazar el protocolo CSMA/CA del MAC por un protocolo TDMA. Estas soluciones permiten subsanar fundamentalmente dos problemas: por un lado evitan las ineficiencias inherentes al hecho de usar CSMA/CA en largas distancias, y, por otro, evitar las interferencias internas en un nodo IEEE 802.11 con multiples interfaces. Sin embargo, tambien introducen graves problemas de incompatibilidad con otros dispositivos al romper completamente con el estandar WiFi basado en CSMA/CA. Investigaciones realizadas por otros grupos, como la Fundacion Ehas, han propuesto cambios alternativos, los cuales dicen no eliminar la compatibilidad entre dispositivos.
Local invariant representation for multi-instance toucheless palmprint identification

Palmprint identification is a popular biometric technology used for personal characterization. Traditional palmprint recognition methods are mostly based on acquisition devices with contact, and this, may affect their user friendliness. In this paper, a toucheless palmprint identification method based on Scale Invariant Feature Transform (SIFT) descriptors and sparse representation method is proposed, in order to extract palmprint features of left and right palms. The fusion scheme is performed at rank level using Support Vector Machines (SVM) classifier and probability distribution to generate the final identity of a person. Experiments evaluated on CASIA palmprint database and a proposed toucheless REST (REgim Sfax Tunisia) hand database, report promising performances which are competitive to other existing palmprint identification methods.
Receptor-mediated signaling in Aspergillus fumigatus

Aspergillus fumigatus is the most pathogenic species among the Aspergilli, and the major fungal agent of human pulmonary infection. To prosper in diverse ecological niches, Aspergilli have evolved numerous mechanisms for adaptive gene regulation, some of which are also crucial for mammalian infection. Among the molecules which govern such responses, integral membrane receptors are thought to be the most amenable to therapeutic modulation. This is due to the localization of these molecular sensors at the periphery of the fungal cell, and to the prevalence of small molecules and licensed drugs which target receptor-mediated signaling in higher eukaryotic cells. In this review we highlight the progress made in characterizing receptor-mediated environmental adaptation in A. fumigatus and its relevance for pathogenicity in mammals. By presenting a first genomic survey of integral membrane proteins in this organism, we highlight an abundance of putative seven transmembrane domain (7TMD) receptors, the majority of which remain uncharacterized. Given the dependency of A. fumigatus upon stress adaptation for colonization and infection of mammalian hosts, and the merits of targeting receptor-mediated signaling as an antifungal strategy, a closer scrutiny of sensory perception and signal transduction in this organism is warranted.
Neural Monitoring of Vasovagal Syncope

Head‐up tilt testing has become a valuable and widely accepted diagnostic tool for evaluation of patients with vasovagal syncope. This test has afforded clinical researchers the opportunity to focus on the hemodynamic, humoral, and neural changes that accompany syncope. We review the animal and clinical studies that provide insight into the possible pathophysiological mechanisms involved in vasovagal syncope. Hemodynamic measurements in patients with vasovagal syncope suggest that a relative decrease in ventricular size and increase in cardiac contractility may be seen in many patients with vasovagal syncope. Patients with vasovagal syncope have also demonstrated numerous “exaggerated” neurohumoral responses to syncope. Differential changes in plasma levels of epinephrine, renin, endothelin, vasopressin, cortisol, prolactin, beta endorphins, and substance P have been reported by some investigators either prior to or during a syncopal episode in patients with vasovagal syncope. The precise pathophysiological significance of these measurements is unknown at the present time. Measurements of autonomic tone may be accomplished indirectly with analysis of heart rate variability or baroreflex slope, or directly by sympathetic neural recordings of the peroneal nerve. We have demonstrated decreased baroreflex slopes in patients with vasovagal syncope. Using microneurography, we and others have demonstrated decreased sympathetic nerve activity occurring 11 ± 3 seconds prior to syncope during bead‐up tilt table testing. A variety of other abnormal reflexes, including blunted forearm blood flow responses during exercise, have been demonstrated by others. These observations suggest that pacing instituted after the event may not be as helpful as the use of a hemodynamic sensor that will result in the initiation of pacing prior to sympathetic withdrawal or modify the decrease in sympathetic tone that occurs prior to syncope.
Presentation of numerous viral peptides to mouse major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I-restricted T lymphocytes is mediated by the human MHC-encoded transporter or by a hybrid mouse- human transporter

The major histocompatibility complex-encoded transporter associated with antigen processing (TAP) is required for the efficient presentation of cytosolic antigens to class I-restricted T cells. TAP is thought to be formed by the interaction of two gene products, termed TAP1 and TAP2. We find that TAPs consisting either of human subunits, or mouse TAP1 and human TAP2, facilitate the presentation of numerous defined viral peptides to mouse class I-restricted T cells. As human and mouse TAP2 and TAP1 differ in 23 and 28% of their residues, respectively, this indicates that TAP1 and TAP2 can form a functional complex with partners considerably different from those they coevolved with. Moreover, these findings indicate that widely disparate TAPs facilitate delivery of the same peptides to class I molecules. These findings suggest that TAP polymorphism does not greatly influence the types of peptides presented to the immune system.
Risk Assessment for Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon NAPLs Using Component Fractions

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are important environmental contaminants because of their suspected carcinogenicity. PAH contamination is often found in the form of nonaqueous phase liquids (NAPLs), such as coal tar. These materials are very complex mixtures with the constituent compounds exhibiting a wide range of chemical, physical, and toxicological properties. This makes it difficult to characterize a PAH NAPL and predict its behavior. Lumped metrics, such as total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPH), are often used to specify remediation goals at PAH NAPL sites, but these metrics do not capture the variation in NAPL composition over time and as such do not consider changes in risk over time. This paper presents an alternative method for characterizing PAH NAPLs that is based on the fraction approach developed by the Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon Criteria Working Group (TPHCWG). The fraction approach characterizes the PAH NAPL as a collection of U.S. EPA Priority Pollutants plus hydrocarbon fractions.
Budesonide Prevents Cytokine-Induced Decrease of the Relaxant Responses to Formoterol and Terbutaline, but Not to Salmeterol, in Mouse Trachea

During asthma exacerbations, increased airway inflammation may impair the effects of β2-adrenoceptor (β2AR) agonists. It is unclear whether this impairment is prevented by inhaled glucocorticoids (GCs). We have investigated the relaxation of carbachol-contracted mouse tracheal segments to the β2AR agonists formoterol, terbutaline, and salmeterol. The segments were pre-exposed for 4 days to the proinflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor α (100 ng/ml) and interleukin-1β (10 ng/ml) with or without the GC, budesonide (1 μM). Formoterol and terbutaline induced greater maximal relaxation (Rmax) than salmeterol. The cytokines decreased Rmax of all β2AR agonists, whereas budesonide had no effect. However, after concomitant treatment with cytokines and budesonide, the Rmax values of formoterol and terbutaline were not impaired, whereas budesonide did not prevent the decrease in the Rmax of salmeterol. A similar pattern was observed for cAMP production by the agonists. In tracheal smooth muscle, β2AR mRNA was not affected by the cytokines but increased with budesonide. However, the cytokines markedly increased cyclooxygenase (COX)-2 mRNA expression, which may lead to heterologous desensitization of β2AR. It is noteworthy that the cytokine-induced increase of COX-2 was blocked by concomitant budesonide suggesting that heterologous desensitization of β2AR by the cytokines may be prevented by budesonide treatment. Budesonide prevented cytokine-induced impairment of the tracheal relaxation and β2AR/cAMP signaling for formoterol but not for salmeterol. This suggests that differences exist between formoterol and salmeterol in β2AR coupling/activation and/or signal transduction upstream of cAMP. These results imply that maximal bronchodilator effects of formoterol, but not of salmeterol, are maintained by budesonide treatment during periods with increased inflammation, such as asthma exacerbations.
A simplified modeling of ultrawideband antenna time-domain analysis

A simplified modeling of time-domain analysis for ultrawideband (UWB) antennas is proposed in this paper. Compared with the conventional model consisted of a pair of antennas, only one antenna is required for the analysis of UWB antenna time-domain characteristics in the proposed model. The same time-domain pulse response can be obtained from the two models, while the overall dimension of the proposed model is only a half of the former one. As a result, the time for simulation can be greatly reduced. The validity of the proposed model is discussed and proved by five typical compact UWB antennas.
Child Poverty and Household Coping Strategies in Croatia

Istraživanje se bavi cetirima siroko postavljenim pitanjima: 1. Koji su najvažniji trendovi i uzroci rizika siromastva u kucanstvima s djecom u Hrvatskoj? 2. Koje su najvažnije strategije nosenja sa siromastvom te kako se raspoloživa sredstva koriste i raspodjeljuju između razlicitih tipova kucanstava i unutar njih? 3. Kako razlicite javne politike utjecu na siromastvo razlicitih tipova kucanstava? 4. Koje javne politike treba razviti kako bi se podržale pozitivne strategije nosenja sa siromastvom te smanjio rizik od siromastva djece?
Magnetic Resonance Appearance of the Inner Ear After Hearing-Preservation Surgery

Objective: To determine whether the appearance of the inner ear on T2-weighted follow-up magnetic resonance imaging correlates with hearing status after hearing-preservation surgery for vestibular schwannoma. Study Design: Retrospective chart review. Setting: Tertiary referral medical center. Patients: The study includes patients undergoing hearing-preservation surgery for vestibular schwannoma from 1998 to 2003. Intervention: Diagnostic evaluation with magnetic resonance imaging and audiometric evaluation. Main Outcome Measures: Hearing results as reported in charts was correlated with appearance of membranous labyrinth on T2-weighted magnetic resonance images obtained at least 1 year after surgery. Results: Twenty-nine patients were identified, 16 of whom satisfied the inclusion criteria. All 16 of the patients underwent middle fossa removal of vestibular schwannoma. Serviceable hearing according to American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery criteria was preserved in eight patients (50%). Of the eight patients without serviceable hearing, six had the cochlear nerve sacrificed at the time of surgery. All patients with serviceable hearing had normal appearing cochleovestibular signal on T2-weighted images, whereas six of eight patients (75%) with no hearing or poor hearing had abnormal low signal in the inner ear, suggesting inner ear ossification. The positive predictive value of a normal labyrinth for preserved hearing was 90%, whereas the negative predictive value of an abnormal labyrinth for no hearing was 100%. All but one patient who had the cochlear nerve sacrificed showed abnormal morphology of the labyrinth on T2-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Conclusion: We describe the T2-weighted magnetic resonance findings after hearing-preservation surgery for acoustic tumor removal. Loss of inner ear signal on T2-weighted images correlates with loss of hearing postoperatively, whereas preserved inner ear signal correlates with hearing preservation after middle fossa surgery for vestibular schwannoma removal.
FDG PET for Diagnosing Infection in Hip and Knee Prostheses: Prospective Study in 221 Prostheses and Subgroup Comparison With Combined 111In-Labeled Leukocyte/99mTc-Sulfur Colloid Bone Marrow Imaging in 88 Prostheses

Purpose This study aims to assess and compare the value of FDG PET with combined 111In-labeled leukocyte/99mTc-sulfur colloid bone marrow (WBC/BM) imaging for diagnosing infection in hip and knee prostheses. Methods In this prospective study, patients with painful hip or knee arthroplasty, who were scheduled to undergo clinical and diagnostic evaluation for prosthesis revision, were included. They have been studied by using FDG PET and WBC/BM scan. This study was institutional review board approved and Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act compliant. All patients provided written informed consent. Results A total of 134 hip and 87 knee prostheses, suspected of being either infected or noninfectious loosening, were evaluated. All 221 prostheses underwent FDG PET, whereas both WBC/BM imaging and FDG PET were performed in 88 prostheses. The initial analysis of data from the WBC/BM images demonstrated somewhat suboptimal results compared with those of FDG PET scans on 88 patients. In addition, some patients were not willing to undergo both procedures and therefore participate in this study. Therefore, a decision was made to eliminate WBC/BM imaging from the procedures for the remainder of this research study. This decision was reached partly because of the significant radiation dose delivered from labeled WBC and safety issues related to preparing these labeled cells. Final diagnosis was based on microbiological examinations of the surgical specimens in 125 prostheses and joint aspirations combined with the clinical follow-up of 6 months or more in 86 prostheses. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of FDG PET in hip prostheses were 81.8%, 93.1%, 79.4%, and 94.0%, respectively, and in knee prostheses were 94.7%, 88.2%, 69.2%, and 98.4%, respectively. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of WBC/BM imaging in hip prostheses were 38.5%, 95.7%, 71.4%, and 84.6%, respectively, and in knee prostheses were 33.3%, 88.5%, 25.0%, and 92.0%, respectively. In those cases that underwent both FDG PET and WBC/BM imaging, there was a trend (P = 0.0625) toward a higher sensitivity for FDG PET in hip prostheses, whereas other comparisons did not show any significant differences between the 2 imaging modalities. Conclusions Based on this study, the diagnostic performance of FDG PET scan in detecting infection in painful hip and knee prostheses is optimal for routine clinical application. Considering the complexity and costs of WBC/BM imaging and related safety issues associated with this preparation, FDG PET seems to be an appropriate alternative for assessing these patients.
Effect of growth velocity on the progression of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis in boys

Growth velocities, curve magnitudes, curve patterns and Risser signs of 80 consecutive untreated boys with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis were studied retrospectively and compared with the progression velocity of the curves. Growth velocity ≥4 cm/year with curves ≥25° increased progression velocity of curves significantly (P<0.001). Growth velocity was fastest at skeletal ages 12–13 years but continued moderately after the age of 16 years. The major right thoracic curves were the most progressive.
Metabolic response of tomato leaves upon different plant-pathogen interactions.

INTRODUCTION Plants utilise various defence mechanisms against their potential biotic stressing agents such as viroids, viruses, bacteria or fungi and abiotic environmental challenges. Among them metabolic alteration is a common response in both compatible and incompatible plant-pathogen interactions. However, the identification of metabolic changes associated with defence response is not an easy task due to the complexity of the metabolome and the plant response. To address the problem of metabolic complexity, a metabolomics approach was employed in this study. OBJECTIVE To identify a wide range of pathogen (citrus exocortis viroid, CEVd, or Pseudomonas syringae pv. tomato)-induced metabolites of tomato using metabolomics. METHODOLOGY Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy in combination with multivariate data analysis were performed to analyse the metabolic changes implicated in plant-pathogen interaction. RESULTS NMR-based metabolomics of crude extracts allowed the identification of different metabolites implicated in the systemic (viroid) and hypersensitive response (bacteria) in plant-pathogen interactions. While glycosylated gentisic acid was the most important induced metabolite in the viroid infection, phenylpropanoids and a flavonoid (rutin) were found to be associated with bacterial infection. CONCLUSIONS NMR metabolomics is a potent platform to analyse the compounds involved in different plant infections. A broad response to different pathogenic infections was revealed at metabolomic levels in the plant. Also, metabolic specificity against each pathogen was observed.
Cardiac arrest in a young man following excess consumption of caffeinated “energy drinks”

An otherwise healthy 28-year-old man had a cardiac arrest after a day of motocross racing. He had consumed excessive amounts of a caffeinated "energy drink" throughout the day. We postulate that a combination of excessive ingestion of caffeine- and taurine-containing energy drinks and strenuous physical activity can produce myocardial ischaemia by inducing coronary vasospasm.
Leptomeningeal melanoma in childhood

Malignant melanoma (MM) is one of the least common types of childhood cancer, accounting for less than 1% of all pediatric malignancies. Neurocutaneous melanosis (NCM) is a rare phakomatosis consisting of congenital abnormal pigmentation of the skin and meninges. The meningeal lesions are particularly prone to malignant change.