Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Retrospective 2D Morphometric Analysis of Adult Female Chiari Type I Patients with Commonly Reported and Related Conditions

Purpose: Researchers have sought to better understand Chiari type I malformation (CMI) through morphometric measurements beyond tonsillar position (TP). Soft tissue and bone structures within the brain and craniocervical junction have been shown to be different for CMI patients compared to healthy controls. Yet, several morphological characteristics have not been consistently associated with CMI. CMI is also associated with different prevalent conditions (PCs) such as syringomyelia, pseudotumor, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), scoliosis, and craniocervical instability. The goal of this study was two-fold: (1) to identify unique morphological characteristics of PCs, and (2) to better explain inconsistent results from case-control comparisons of CMI. Methods: Image, demographic, and PC information was obtained through the Chiari1000, a self-report web-accessed database. Twenty-eight morphometric measurements (MMs) were performed on the cranial MR images of 236 pre-surgery adult female CMI participants and 140 female healthy control participants. Custom software was used to measure 28 structures within the posterior cranial fossa (PCF) compartment, craniocervical junction, oral cavity, and intracranial area on midsagittal MR images for each participant. Results: Morphometric analysis of adult females indicated a smaller McRae line length in CMI participants with syringomyelia compared to those without syringomyelia. TP was reduced in CMI participants with EDS than those without EDS. Basion to posterior axial line was significantly longer in CMI participants with scoliosis compared to those without scoliosis. No additional MMs were found to differ between CMI participants with and without a specific PC. Four morphometric differences were found to be consistently different between CMI participants and healthy controls regardless of PC: larger TP and a smaller clivus length, fastigium, and corpus callosum height in CMI participants. Conclusion: Syringomyelia, EDS, and scoliosis were the only PCs that showed significant morphometric differences between CMI participants. Additionally, four midsagittal MR-based MMs were found to be significantly different between healthy controls and CMI participants regardless of the presence of one or more PCs. This study suggests that the prevalence of comorbid conditions are not strongly related to CMI morphology, and that inconsistent findings in the radiographic literature cannot be explained by varying prevalence of comorbid conditions in CMI study samples.
Learning foci for Question Answering over Topic Maps

This paper introduces the concepts of asking point and expected answer type as variations of the question focus. They are of particular importance for QA over semistructured data, as represented by Topic Maps, OWL or custom XML formats. We describe an approach to the identification of the question focus from questions asked to a Question Answering system over Topic Maps by extracting the asking point and falling back to the expected answer type when necessary. We use known machine learning techniques for expected answer type extraction and we implement a novel approach to the asking point extraction. We also provide a mathematical model to predict the performance of the system.
A high sensitivity, low power Phase Controlled Current Source for Gsamples/s phase-locked loops

Operating up to 3.2-GHz with power consumption of 1.32mW, a Phase Controlled Current Source (PCCS) capable of both phase frequency comparing and current providing is presented. Benefiting from simple, feed-forward operation characteristic, the PCCS minimizes the short current issue while maintaining free dead zone feature. The phase and frequency sensitivities of the PCCS have been measured to demonstrate its performance. With a reference source ranging from 2.1-GHz to 3.2-GHz, a PLL embedding the PCCS achieves phase noise around −100 dBc/Hz at 1-kHz offset. The lowest phase noise at 1MHz offset is −131 dBc/Hz when the PLL uses a 2.3-GHz reference source.
Molecular analysis of ovarian mucinous carcinoma reveals different cell of origins

It is believed that a subset of primary ovarian mucinous tumors is derived from mature teratomas [1–5]. To confirm this, we performed microsatellite genotyping using a variety of short tandem repeat makers and analyzed allelotypes of 8 mucinous tumors (4 mucinous carcinomas, 3 atypical proliferative mucinous tumors and 1 mucinous cystadenoma) associated with a teratoma to determine whether they were clonally related. 7 of the 8 mucinous tumors showed complete or a high degree of homozygosity. Among the 6 pairs of tumors with teratoma tissue available for comparison, 5 of 6 showed a high or complete degree of allelotypes matching, which differed from the somatic allelotypes of the normal control tissue. A discrepancy was detected between carcinoma and teratoma in one pair at several loci, with different X-chromosome inactivation patterns revealed by the HUMARA clonality assay. We also investigated the allelotypes of 16 ovarian mucinous carcinomas without a teratoma in young patients (range 13–30) and in 6 older patients (range 40–67) using the same method. None of these tumors showed pure homozygosity. The number of homozygous loci in this cohort was significantly lower than that in the first. Our results suggest first, that most mucinous tumors associated with a teratoma are derived from the teratoma but occasionally they could be collision tumors and second that the majority of pure mucinous tumors in young women in whom a teratoma is not present are not derived from a teratoma.
Identification and Characterization of cvHsp

Starting with computational tools that search for tissue-selective expression of assembled expressed sequenced tags, we have identified by focusing on heart libraries a novel small stress protein of 170 amino acids that we named cvHsp. cvHsp was found as being computationally selectively and highly (0.3% of the total RNA) expressed in human heart. The cvHsp gene mapped to 1p36.23–p34.3 between markers D1S434 andD1S507. The expression of cvHsp was analyzed with RNA dot, Northern blots, or reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction: expression was high in heart, medium in skeletal muscle, and low in aorta or adipose tissues. In the heart of rat models of cardiac pathologies, cvHsp mRNA expression was either unchanged (spontaneous hypertension), up-regulated (right ventricular hypertrophy induced by monocrotaline treatment), or down-regulated (left ventricular hypertrophy following aortic banding). In obese Zucker rats, cvHsp mRNA was increased in skeletal muscle, brown, and white adipose tissues but remained unchanged in the heart. Western blot analysis using antipeptide polyclonal antibodies revealed two specific bands at 23 and 25 kDa for cvHsp in human heart. cvHsp interacted in both yeast two-hybrid and immunoprecipitation experiments with α-filamin or actin-binding protein 280. Within cvHsp, amino acid residues 56–119 were shown to be important for its specific interaction with the C-terminal tail of α-filamin.
Sleep behaviors in children with autism spectrum disorders

Objective: To explore the sleep behavior in preschool and school-age children with autism spectrum disorders(ASD). Methods: Totally 84 children with ASD meeting the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,Fourth Edition(DSM-IV) and 91 age-,sex-matched healthy children were selected.Their sleep behaviors and habits were obtained from their parents by the Chinese version of Children' s Sleep Habits Questionnaire(CSHQ) and an one-week sleep diary.A cutoff point of 41 in CSHQ was applied to define poor sleep.Abnormal sleep behavior occurred more than 2 nights per week was defined as a problem.ASD children divided into two age groups(3~5 years and 6~12 years) were separately compared with normal control group of their sleep habits and behaviors.Results: ASD children aged 3~5 years scored higher than normal control group in sleep latency[(2.1±0.8) vs.(1.6±0.7),P0.05] and sleep duration [(5.4±1.7) vs.(4.8±1.3),P0.05]. A higher proportion of them had "difficulties in falling asleep in 20 min"(77.6% vs.49.0%),"slept less"(63.3% vs.42.9%),"struggled after night wakings"(34.7% vs.12.2%),and "felt fatigue at daytime"(36.7% vs.10.2%),Ps0.05. ASD children aged 6~12 years slept less than control group during weekdays [(8.68±0.76) h vs.(9.33±1.00) h,P0.05]. They scored higher than control group in bedtime resistance [(10.1±2.8) vs.(8.6±2.5)],sleep latency [(1.7±0.7) vs.(1.4±0.6)] and sleep anxiety [(5.4±2.0) vs.(4.5±1.9),Ps0.05]. More of them had "difficulties in falling asleep in 20 min"(54.3% vs.31.0%),"slept less"(60.0% vs.35.7%),"slept with parents"(65.7% vs.38.1%) and "needed company during bedtime"(68.6% vs.35.7%),Ps0.05. Conclusion: It suggests that ASD children may have less sleep amount and more difficulties in falling asleep.Preschool ASD children may struggle after night-waking and suffer from fatigue during the day,while school-age ASD children may have more sleep anxiety.
Amplified expression of the HER2/ERBB2 oncogene induces resistance to tumor necrosis factor a in NIH 3T3 cells (gene amplification/receptor transmodulation/tumorigenesis)

Functional characterization of oncogene products that induce cellular transformation has progressed rapidly in recent years. However, less is known about the mechanism(s) by which the transformed cells may escape destruction by host immune defenses and form tumors. A recently described oncogene that has an important association with aggressive human breast carcinoma is "HER2," for human epidermal growth factor receptor 2. The oncogene has also been called NGL and human c-erbB-2 (ERBB2). In this paper we show that amplification of HER2 oncogene expression can induce resistance of NIH 3T3 cells to the cytotoxic effects of recombinant tumor necrosis factor a (rTNF-a) or macrophages. Resistance is accompanied by an increased dissociation constant for rTNF-a binding to high-affinity receptors on the HER2-transformed NIH 3T3 cells. The resistance phenotype is independent of transformation since NIH 3T3 cells transformed by the activated human homologue of the Harvey-ras oncogene (HRAS) retain high-affinity binding sites for rTNF-a as well as sensitivity to its cytotoxic effects. These results suggest that HER2 may potentiate tumorigenesis by inducing tumor cell resistance to host defense mechanisms.
Bulk Switching Instrumentation Amplifier for a High-Impedance Source in Neural Signal Recording

Flicker noise is the most crucial issue in an instrumentation amplifier (IA) for neural recordings because low-frequency neural signals overlap with the frequency of the amplifier's flicker noise. A Chopping technique, often used to reduce the flicker noise, is not desirable for high-impedance input sources due to the charge injection and clock feedthrough from the MOSFETs of the input chopper to the signal source, resulting in a significant increase in the total input-referred noise. Whereas MOSFETs have less flicker noise at the moment of turning on, and the intrinsic flicker noise can be then reduced by turning on and off the MOSFETs in the IA. This brief proposes a bulk switching IA, which can avoid the input current noise. A prototype IA is implemented in a 65 nm CMOS occupying 0.053 mm2, and it achieves the input-referred noise of 0.74 μVrms (local field potential) for 100 k Ω source impedance, a 3.3 times reduction compared with that of the chopper IAs, while consuming only 3.96 μW from a 1.2 V supply.
Magnetic resonance imaging in rheumatic disorders of the spine and sacroiliac joints.

OBJECTIVE To review the value of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in diagnosis and evaluation of rheumatic diseases of the spine and sacroiliac joints. METHODS A review of the literature on MRI of the spine and sacroiliac joints in rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), infectious spondylodiscitis, infection of the sacroiliac joint (SIJ), gout, calcium pyrophosphate deposition disease, nontraumatic vertebral compression fractures, insufficiency fracture of the sacrum, avascular necrosis of the vertebral body, sarcoidosis, and Paget's disease was performed. The reports were obtained from a Medline search. RESULTS In RA, AS, and crystal deposition disease, synovial tissue, atlantoaxial and subaxial subluxations, crystal deposition, and neurologic compromise can be adequately diagnosed with MRI of the cervical spine. Studies on MRI of SIJs in AS indicate that MRI enables early diagnosis of sacroiliitis. In most cases of infectious spondylodiscitis, avascular necrosis of the vertebral body, nontraumatic vertebral compression fractures, and insufficiency fractures of the sacrum characteristic findings on MRI suggest the correct diagnosis. Moreover, soft tissue abnormalities and neurologic compromise can be visualized. In infection of the SIJ, MRI shows findings suggesting an inflammatory process. In Paget's disease, MRI does not provide additional information as compared with plain radiography (PR) or computed tomography (CT). CONCLUSION In evaluation of spinal and SIJ abnormalities in many rheumatic diseases, MRI, in addition to PR, can replace conventional tomography, CT, and myelography. Moreover, MRI can visualize soft tissue abnormalities and neurologic compromise without use of intrathecal contrast.
Ontological Basis for Agent ADL

Abstract. Multi-Agent Systems (MAS) architectures are gaining popularity over traditional ones for building open, distributed or evolving software. To formally define system architecture and reasoning about it, numerous architecture description languages (ADLs) have been proposed during the last decade. However, few research efforts aim at truly defining a description language for MAS architectures. The paper introduces an ontological basis aimed at capturing a ? core ? set of structural and behavioral concepts, and their relationships, we consider fundamental to define an ADL for MAS architectures. The explosive growth of application areas such as electronic commerce, knowledge management, peer-to-peer and mobile computing has profoundly changed our views on information systems engineering. Systems must now be based on open architectures that continuously evolve to accommodate new components and meet new requirements. These new requirements call, in turn, for new concepts and techniques for engineering and managing information systems. For these reasons ? and more ?
Adaptive-frame-rate monocular vision and IMU fusion for robust indoor positioning

Robust navigation for mobile robots requires an accurate method for tracking the robot position in the environment. This paper presents a simple and novel visual-inertial integration system suitable for unstructured and unprepared indoor environments, where MARG (Magnet, Angular Rate and Gravity) sensors and a monocular camera are used. The pre-estimated orientation from MARG sensors, is used to estimate the translation based on the data from the visual and inertial sensors. This has a significant effect on the performance of the fusion sensing strategy and makes the fusion procedure much easier, because the gravitational acceleration can be correctly removed from the accelerometer measurements before the fusion procedure, where a linear Kalman Filter is selected as the fusion estimator. the use of pre-estimated orientation can help to eliminate erroneous point matches based on the properties of the pure camera translation and thus the computational requirements can be significantly reduced compared to the RANSAC (RANdom SAmple Consensus) algorithm. In addition, an adaptive-frame-rate single camera is selected to not only avoid motion blur based on the angular velocity and acceleration after compensation but also to make an effect called visual zero-velocity update for the static motion. Thus, it can recover a more accurate baseline and meanwhile reduce the computational requirements. In particular, an absolute scale factor, which is usually lost in monocular camera tracking, can be obtained by introducing it into the estimator. Simulation and experimental results are presented for different environments with different types of movement and the results from a Pioneer robot are used to demonstrate the accuracy of the proposed method.
Managing anger methods for a happier and healthier life

The most successful people know how to manage their anger as well as the anger of others. With the help of intriguing exercises and self-tests, this book provides readers with an individual assessment of the causes and effects of their anger. Coverage includes- To define anger and show how it works To show how to manage anger To discuss letting go of the past To show ways to handle other people's anger
Cooperative Slotted Aloha for Multi-Base Station Systems

We introduce a framework to study slotted Aloha with cooperative base stations. Assuming a geographic-proximity communication model, we propose several decoding algorithms with different degrees of base stations' cooperation (noncooperative, spatial, temporal, and spatio-temporal). With spatial cooperation, neighboring base stations inform each other whenever they collect a user within their coverage overlap; temporal cooperation corresponds to (temporal) successive interference cancellation done locally at each station. We analyze the four decoding algorithms and establish several fundamental results. With all algorithms, the peak throughput (average number of decoded users per slot, across all base stations) increases linearly with the number of base stations. Further, temporal and spatio-temporal cooperations exhibit a threshold behavior with respect to the normalized load (number of users per station, per slot). There exists a positive load G*, such that, below G*, the decoding probability is asymptotically maximal possible, equal the probability that a user is heard by at least one base station; with non-cooperative decoding and spatial cooperation, we show that G* is zero. Finally, with spatio-temporal cooperation, we optimize the degree distribution according to which users transmit their packet replicas; the optimum is in general very different from the corresponding optimal distribution of the single-base station system.
Sex Estimation of Infants Between Birth and One Year Through Discriminant Analysis of the Humerus and Femur

Estimation of sex when investigating subadult skeletal remains is largely problematic because of unreliable and inaccurate results. Despite the limitations encountered with skeletal material, the medical literature clearly demonstrates differences between males and females in utero that persist through life. The current study investigates sexual dimorphism in the long bones of the humerus and femur for individuals between birth and 1 year of age. A radiographic sample amassed from Erie County Medical Examiner's office includes 85 femoral and 45 humeral images for analysis in relation to sex. Measurements for lengths and breadths were collected through tpsDig software. Discriminant analysis proved to be the most successful method, with error rates of 3% when utilizing maximum breadth at midshaft of the femur and 11% with humerus maximum distal breadth. This research demonstrates that it is possible to correctly classify sex of unknown subadult remains when comparing them to a known sample.
Performance Comparisons Using Routing Protocols with OPNET Simulator in Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

In this paper performance comparisons of mobile ad hoc network's protocol with its quality of service factors has been measured. It is seen that mobile ad hoc networks will be an integral part of next generation networks because of its flexibility, infrastructure less nature, ease of maintenance, auto configuration, self administration capabilities, and costs effectiveness. This research paper shows comparison within mobile ad hoc networks' routing protocols from reactive, proactive and hybrid categories. We comprehensively analyzed the results of simulation for mobile ad hoc routing protocols over the performance metrics of packet delivery ratio, end to end delay, media access delay and throughput for optimized link state routing, temporary ordered routing algorithm and ad hoc on demand distance vector protocol. In mobile ad hoc networks, mobile nodes must collaborate with each other in order to interconnect, organize the dynamic topology as mobility cause route change and establish communication over wireless links. Our simulation results show the lead of proactive over reactive and hybrid protocols in routing traffic for dynamic changing topology. Proactive protocol optimized link state routing, a protocol for building link tables for ad-hoc networks, can transmit traffic more rapidly though involve less processing speed in packet forwarding.
Proactive Scalability and Management of Resources in Hybrid Clouds via Machine Learning

In this paper, we present a novel framework for supporting the management and optimization of application subject to software anomalies and deployed on large scale cloud architectures, composed of different geographically distributed cloud regions. The framework uses machine learning models for predicting failures caused by accumulation of anomalies. It introduces a novel workload balancing approach and a proactive system scale up/scale down technique. We developed a prototype of the framework and present some experiments for validating the applicability of the proposed approaches.
KCSR: Keymatches Constrained Secure Routing in Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) consists of a large number of tiny autonomous devices called sensors which are vulnerable to security threats. Heterogeneous Wireless Sensor Networks consists of two types of nodes L1 and L2 that employees Unbalanced Key Distribution Scheme to ensure enhanced security. In this paper, the concept of Link Strength is utilized, which determines the path to be selected for secure routing. Our Keymatches Constrained Secure Routing(KCSR) algorithm provides the flexibility to choose secure path and then route the data accordingly. In this approach, secure and stable paths are chosen for communication. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm yields better results emphasizing security when compared with earlier works.