Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quantification of myocardial perfusion in human subjects using 82Rb and wavelet-based noise reduction.

UNLABELLED Quantification of myocardial perfusion with 82Rb has been difficult to achieve because of the low signal-to-noise ratio of the dynamic data curves. This study evaluated the accuracy of flow estimates after the application of a novel multidimensional wavelet-based noise-reduction protocol. METHODS Myocardial perfusion was estimated using 82Rb and a two-compartment model from dynamic PET scans on 11 healthy volunteers at rest and after hyperemic stress with dipyridamole. Midventricular planes were divided into eight regions of interest, and a wavelet transform protocol was applied to images and time-activity curves. Flow estimates without and with the wavelet approach were compared with those obtained using H2(15)O. RESULTS Over a wide flow range (0.45-2.75 mL/g/min), flow achieved with the wavelet approach correlated extremely closely with values obtained with H2(15)O (y = 1.03 x -0.12; n = 23 studies, r = 0.94, P < 0.001). If the wavelet noise-reduction technique was not used, the correlation was less strong (y = 1.11 x + 0.24; n = 23 studies, r = 0.79, P < 0.001). In addition, the wavelet approach reduced the regional variation from 75% to 12% and from 62% to 11% (P < 0.001 for each comparison) for resting and stress studies, respectively. CONCLUSION The use of a wavelet protocol allows near-optimal noise reduction, markedly enhances the physiologic flow signal within the PET images, and enables accurate measurement of myocardial perfusion with 82Rb in human subjects over a wide range of flows.
Antimalarial drug artesunate aff ords protection against carrageenan induced acute infl ammation in rat

Artesunate, an antimalarial drug, has been shown to inhibit the release of inflammatory mediators in various disease conditions. The present study was carried out to evaluate the anti-edematogenic effect of artesunate in the rat paw edema model. Inflammation was induced in the hind paw of rat by sub-plantar injection of 0.1 mL of 0.5% carrageenan and the paw volume was measured up to a fixed mark just before the injection and then after 3 h. The difference in two volumes gave a measure of edema formation. At 3h the level of TNF-α, PGE2 and myeloperoxidase were estimated in the inflamed paw tissue. Treatment of rats with single dose of artesunate at 50 and 150 mg/kg produced a dose-dependent inhibition in paw inflammation where a significant reduction in edema volume and mediator release was observed. Our study shows that by inhibiting the release of inflammatory mediators artesunate affords protection against acute inflammation induced in the rat paw and suggests that it has a potential to be used in the treatment of inflammatory disease conditions.
Key Frame Extraction and Foreground Modelling Using K-Means Clustering

In this paper, we have proposed and implemented a novel robust key frame extraction and foreground isolation method using k-means clustering and mean squared error method for variable frame rate videos. We also isolated foreground objects in the video whilst eliminating the noise generated in the recording. The flickering of the frames caused as a result of variable frame rate in a recorded video is reduced by a considerable degree using this method. Also, the k-means clustering is performed on Apache's hadoop infrastructure to make the results of the computation faster. We have implemented this method and obtained results to be clear enough to extract meaningful detail from the frames. The results of the method have been compared to similar results obtained using well-known techniques such as the Gaussian Mixture Model and have been shown to be better.
Surgical treatment for breast tumors in children

Introduction/Objective. Fibroadenoma, often called ? breast mice tumors? due to their mobility, are the most common breast tumors in pediatric population. Considering that some tumors have a potential for rapid growth, breast tissue damage, and that an ideal diagnostic tool has yet to be found, complete mass extirpation might be the treatment of choice. The aim of the study was to present our clinical experience in treating children with breast masses. Methods. A retrospective review (2011? 2018) of patients treated for breast tumors at the Institute for Child and Youth Health Care of Vojvodina in Novi Sad was conducted. Results. In this study 29 girls (mean age 15.8 ? 1.8) were included. The majority of masses were located in the upper outer (27.6%) or lower inner (24.1%) breast quadrant. The mean mass diameter was 39.7 mm. It has been observed that the mean mass diameter in the group of girls with positive family history for breast diseases was significantly lower (p < 0.05) than in those with negative family history (27.5 vs. 43.2 mm). There were no proven malignant tumors and all tumors have been completely extirpated. The mean postoperative stay was 1.5 ? 1.02 days. Conclusion. An appropriate radical operative technique dependent on mass size and localization is still the ? gold standard? for treating breast masses in pediatric patients. Cooperation with experts in the field of oncologic breast surgery enables implementing these operative techniques in clinical practice of pediatric surgeons.
A Homotopy Continuation Approach for Testing a Basic Analog Circuit

The increase of complexity on integrated circuits has al so raised the demand for new testing methodologies capable to detect functional failures within circuits before they reach the market. Hence, this work proposes to explore the use of homotopy a s a tool for testing a basic analog circuit. The homotopy path is influenced by nonlinearities f rom the equilibrium equation of the circuit; this situation can be used to infer faults by det ecting changes on the homotopy path. The concept was explored using numerical simulation of a simple test circuit; then comparing results for the circuit with and without faults, obtaining modificat ions on the homotopy path like: the final point, number of iterations, and the number of turni ng points.
Miniaturized and tunable wearable RFID tag for body-centric applications

A planar “square-smile” like layout is proposed to achieve miniaturized wearable UHF RFID tags. The geometry hosts different slots which contribute to produce size reduction and a two-steps friendly impedance tuning. The resulting antenna surface is half the size of a credit card and permits to be read up to 5m when attached onto the body. Thanks to the flexible and lightweight EPDM foam used as substrate, the tag is suited to be integrated in badges, wallets, pockets, plasters, wristbands and various garments. The particular slotted geometry moreover simplifies the interconnection of chemical or mechanical sensors. An example is given concerning a passive motion detector for the live tracking of human movements and pathological/vital signs in a conventional room.
The Effect of Font Size on Reading Comprehension on Second and Fifth Grade Children: Bigger Is Not Always Better

Research on reading development has focused on the linguistic, cognitive, and recently, metacognitive skills children must master in order to learn to read. Less focus has been devoted to how the text itself, namely the perceptual features of the words, affects children’s learning and comprehension. In this study, we manipulated perceptual properties of text by presenting reading passages in different font sizes, line lengths, and line spacing to 100 children in the second and fifth grades. For second graders (Experiment 1), decreasing font size, as well as increasing line length, yielded significantly lower comprehension scores. Line spacing had no effect on performance. For fifth graders (Experiment 2), decreasing font size yielded higher comprehension scores, yet there were no effects for line length and line spacing. Results are discussed within a "desirable difficulty" approach to reading development.
From Dehumanization and Objectification to Rehumanization

Social neuroscience offers a window into the mental origins of empathy. People must appreciate another mind in order to empathize. People first categorize the other as human, assuming a mind, and then differentiate among social categories according to universal dimensions of perceived traits: warmth and competence. The least warm and competent groups (poor people, homeless, drug addicts) may even be denied humanity and a meaningful mind, according to both neural and behavioral responses to allegedly disgusting outcasts. Other groups may be instead envied and viewed as tools or automatons, that is, objectified. The patterns can reverse when perceivers must consider the other's preferences, that is, appreciate the other's mind.
Regulating survival and development in the retina: key roles for simple sphingolipids

Many sphingolipids have key functions in the regulation of crucial cellular processes. Ceramide (Cer) and sphingosine (Sph) induce growth arrest and cell death in multiple situations of cellular stress. On the contrary, sphingosine-1-phosphate (S1P), the product of Sph phosphorylation, promotes proliferation, differentiation, and survival in different cell systems. This review summarizes the roles of these simple sphingolipids in different tissues and then analyzes their possible functions in the retina. Alterations in proliferation, neovascularization, differentiation, and cell death are critical in major retina diseases and collective evidence points to a role for sphingolipids in these processes. Cer induces inflammation and apoptosis in endothelial and retinal pigmented epithelium cells, leading to several retinopathies. S1P can prevent this death but also promotes cell proliferation that might lead to neovascularization and fibrosis. Recent data support Cer and Sph as crucial mediators in the induction of photoreceptor apoptosis in diverse models of oxidative damage and neurodegeneration, and suggest that regulating their metabolism can prevent this death. New evidence proposes a central role for S1P controlling photoreceptor survival and differentiation. Finally, this review discusses the ability of trophic factors to regulate sphingolipid metabolism and transactivate S1P signaling pathways to control survival and development in retina photoreceptors.
Serial multimodal framework for enhancing user convenience using dimensionality reduction technique

Owing to an increased demand for identity management system in day to day applications, considering user convenience as a priority, we conduct a survey on biometric systems and observed serial multimodal systems as the most user convenient and reliable system. For further enhancement of the system performance, the discriminating capacity of the weaker trait can be improved, and we expect that the use of a semi supervised learning based dimensionality reduction method will make the performance of the weaker trait matcher better and hence enhance the overall performance of the system. We also propose a serial biometric system of face and fingerprint into which the dimensionality reduction method can be incorporated.
Microbes in High Arctic Snow and Implications for the Cold Biosphere

ABSTRACT We applied molecular, microscopic, and culture techniques to characterize the microbial communities in snow and air at remote sites in the Canadian High Arctic (Ward Hunt Island, Ellesmere Island, and Cornwallis Island, latitudes 74 to 83oN). Members of the Bacteria and Eukarya were prevalent in the snow, and their small subunit (SSU) rRNA gene signatures indicated strong local aerial transport within the region over the preceding 8 months of winter snowpack accumulation. Many of the operational taxonomic units (OTUs) were similar to previously reported SSU rRNA gene sequences from the Arctic Ocean, suggesting the importance of local aerial transport processes for marine microbiota. More than 47% of the cyanobacterial OTUs in the snow have been previously found in microbial mats in the region, indicating that this group was also substantially derived from local sources. Viable cyanobacteria isolated from the snow indicated free exchange between the snow and adjacent mat communities. Other sequences were most similar to those found outside the Canadian Arctic but were from snow, lake and sea ice, glaciers and permafrost, alpine regions, Antarctica, and other regions of the Arctic, supporting the concept of global distribution of microbial ecotypes throughout the cold biosphere.
Myo-Inositol Oxygenase Expression Associate with Oxidative Stress and Renal Function Decline in Patients with Diabetic Nephropathy

Abstract: Background: Diabetic kidney disease (DKD) is the leading cause of renal failure. The diagnostic preferred, urinary albumin is nonspecific and insensitive. There is urgently want for finding a renal-precise biomarker that could be detectable early sufficient and a capability target for therapeutic intervention. Method: The expression of Myo-Inositol Oxygenase(MIOX)in kidney tissues from DKD and minimum-change nephropathy patients were detected via immunohistochemistry and the connection between MIOX expression and medical parameters of DKD have been analyzed by Pearson correlation evaluation. Then, the extent of MIOX in both of serum and urine had been tested via ELISA, and the correlation of MIOX in serum and urine and scientific parameters have been also analyzed. Results: Immunohistochemistry showed that MIOX was localized to the proximal renal tubule and MIOX expression is significantly up regulated in kidney of patients with DKD ,compared with controls(p<0.01). Moreover, linear regression analysis revealed MIOX expression in the kidney of DKD patients was positively related to tubulointerstitial lesion score, ROS generation, urea nitrogen(BUN), creatinine, blood glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin and 24-hour urine protein. In addition, ELISA analysis showed that the levels of MIOX in serum and urine of DKD patients were significantly increased . The correlation analysis indicated that the expression of MIOX in both serum and urine were also positively related to creatinine, blood glucose, glycosylated hemoglobin, and 24-hour urine protein. Conclusion: These dates indicate that MIOX is associated with ROS accumulation and kidney injury and plays an important role in the development of DKD. Furthermore, serum or urine MIOX maybe a new diagnostic biomarker and therapeutic target.
The Dynamics and Outcomes of Rapid Infall onto Neutron Stars

We present an extensive study of accretion onto neutron stars in which the velocity of the neutron star and structure of the surrounding medium is such that the Bondi-Hoyle accretion exceeds 10{sup 4} {ital M}{sub {circle_dot}} yr{sup 1}. Two types of initial conditions are considered for a range of entropies and chemical compositions: an atmosphere in pressure equilibrium above the neutron star, and a freely falling inflow of matter from infinity (also parameterized by the infall rate). We then evolve the system with one- and two-dimensional hydrodynamic codes to determine the outcome. For most cases, hypercritical (also termed ``super Eddington``) accretion caused by rapid neutrino cooling allows the neutron star to accrete above the Bondi-Hoyle rate as previously pointed out by Chevalier. However, for a subset of simulations which corresponds to evolutionarily common events, convection driven by neutrino heating can lead to explosions by a mechanism similar to that found in core-collapse supernovae. Armed with the results from our calculations, we are in a position to predict the fate of a range of rapid-infall neutron star accretors present in certain low-mass X-ray binaries, common envelope systems, supernova fallbacks, and Thorne-Zytkow objects (TZOs). A majority of the common envelope systems thatmore » we considered led to explosions expelling the envelope, halting the neutron star{close_quote}s inward spiral, and allowing the formation of close binary systems. As a result, the smothered neutron stars produced in the collisions studied by Davies & Benz may also explode, probably preventing them from forming millisecond pulsars. For the most massive supernovae, in which the fallback of material toward the neutron star after a successful explosion is large, we find that a black hole is formed in a few seconds. Finally, we argue that the current set of TZO formation scenarios is inadequate and leads instead to hypercritical accretion and black hole formation. « less
Integrative Systems Biology Resources and Approaches in Disease Analytics

Currently, our analytical competences are struggling to keep-up the pace of in-deep analysis of all generated large-scale data resultant of high-throughput omics platforms. While, a substantial effort was spent on methods enhancement regarding technical aspects across many detection omics platforms, the development of integrative downstream approaches is still challenging. Systems biology has an immense applicability in the biomedical and pharmacological areas since the main goal of those focuses in the translation of measured outputs into potential markers of a Human ailment and/ or to provide new compound leads for drug discovery. This approach would become more straightforward and realistic to use in standard analysis workflows if the collation of all available information of every component of a biological system was ensured into a single database framework, instead of search and fetch a single component at time across a scatter of databases resources. Here, we will describe several database resources, standalone and web-based tools applied in disease analytics workflows based in data-driven integration of outputs of multi-omic detection platforms.
Early Mortality and Loss to Follow-up in HIV-Infected Children Starting Antiretroviral Therapy in Southern Africa

Background:Many HIV-infected children in Southern Africa have been started on antiretroviral therapy (ART), but loss to follow up (LTFU) can be substantial. We analyzed mortality in children retained in care and in all children starting ART, taking LTFU into account. Patients and Methods:Children who started ART before the age of 16 years in 10 ART programs in South Africa, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zimbabwe were included. Risk factors for death in the first year of ART were identified in Weibull models. A meta-analytic approach was used to estimate cumulative mortality at 1 year. Results:Eight thousand two hundred twenty-five children (median age 49 months, median CD4 cell percent 11.6%) were included; 391 (4.8%) died and 523 (7.0%) were LTFU in the first year. Mortality at 1 year was 4.5% [95% confidence interval (CI): 2.8% to 7.4%] in children remaining in care, but 8.7% (5.4% to 12.1%) at the program level, after taking mortality in children and LTFU into account. Factors associated with mortality in children remaining in care included age [adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 0.37; 95% CI: 0.25 to 0.54 comparing ≥120 months with <18 months], CD4 cell percent (HR: 0.56; 95% CI: 0.39 to 0.78 comparing ≥20% with <10%), and clinical stage (HR: 0.12; 95% CI: 0.03 to 0.45 comparing World Health Organization stage I with III/IV). Conclusions:In children starting ART and remaining in care in Southern Africa mortality at 1 year is <5% but almost twice as high at the program level, when taking LTFU into account. Age, CD4 percentage, and clinical stage are important predictors of mortality at the individual level.
Compact MIMO Antenna System with SlottedGround Structure for Ultra-Wide BandApplications

A new ultra-wideband MIMO antenna with good isolation is proposed. An antenna system is explicitly intended to operate at frequency bands ranging from 3.1 GHz to 10.6 GHz. The design is extremely miniaturized using the slotting technique. The mutual coupling between the two elements is less than -10 dB. The maximum gain of the antenna is estimated as
Is nasal packing necessary after septoplasty? A meta‐analysis

Nasal packing is routinely used after septoplasty because it is believed to decrease risk of postoperative bleeding, hematomas, and adhesions. Multiple studies have shown, however, that there are numerous complications associated with nasal packing. The purpose of this work was to perform a meta‐analysis on the existing literature to evaluate the role of nasal packing after septoplasty.
Paxos made transparent

State machine replication (SMR) leverages distributed consensus protocols such as Paxos to keep multiple replicas of a program consistent in face of replica failures or network partitions. This fault tolerance is enticing on implementing a principled SMR system that replicates general programs, especially server programs that demand high availability. Unfortunately, SMR assumes deterministic execution, but most server programs are multithreaded and thus nondeterministic. Moreover, existing SMR systems provide narrow state machine interfaces to suit specific programs, and it can be quite strenuous and error-prone to orchestrate a general program into these interfaces This paper presents Crane, an SMR system that transparently replicates general server programs. Crane achieves distributed consensus on the socket API, a common interface to almost all server programs. It leverages deterministic multithreading (specifically, our prior system Parrot) to make multithreaded replicas deterministic. It uses a new technique we call time bubbling to efficiently tackle a difficult challenge of nondeterministic network input timing. Evaluation on five widely used server programs (e.g., Apache, ClamAV, and MySQL) shows that Crane is easy to use, has moderate overhead, and is robust. Crane's source code is at github.com/columbia/crane.
Activation of Transcription Factor MEF2D by Bis(3)-cognitin Protects Dopaminergic Neurons and Ameliorates Parkinsonian Motor Defects*

Background: Dysregulation of myocyte enhancer factor 2D (MEF2D) is implicated in the pathogenic process of Parkinson disease (PD). Results: A small molecule bis(3)-cognitin activates MEF2D and protects Parkinsonian impairments. Conclusion: Bis(3)-cognitin provides protection of dopaminergic neurons in a model of PD by reversing MEF2D dysfunction. Significance: Activation of MEF2D by pharmacological approach has the potential to be a novel therapeutic for PD. Parkinson disease (PD) is characterized by the selective demise of dopaminergic (DA) neurons in the substantial nigra pars compacta. Dysregulation of transcriptional factor myocyte enhancer factor 2D (MEF2D) has been implicated in the pathogenic process in in vivo and in vitro models of PD. Here, we identified a small molecule bis(3)-cognitin (B3C) as a potent activator of MEF2D. We showed that B3C attenuated the toxic effects of neurotoxin 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium (MPP+) by activating MEF2D via multiple mechanisms. B3C significantly reduced MPP+-induced oxidative stress and potentiated Akt to down-regulate the activity of MEF2 inhibitor glycogen synthase kinase 3β (GSK3β) in a DA neuronal cell line SN4741. Furthermore, B3C effectively rescued MEF2D from MPP+-induced decline in both nucleic and mitochondrial compartments. B3C offered SN4741 cells potent protection against MPP+-induced apoptosis via MEF2D. Interestingly, B3C also protected SN4741 cells from wild type or mutant A53T α-synuclein-induced cytotoxicity. Using the in vivo PD model of C57BL/6 mice treated with 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine hydrochloride (MPTP), we showed that B3C maintained redox homeostasis, promoted Akt function activity, and restored MEF2D level in midbrain neurons. Moreover, B3C greatly prevented the loss of tyrosine hydroxylase signal in substantial nigra pars compacta DA neurons and ameliorated behavioral impairments in mice treated with MPTP. Collectedly, our studies identified B3C as a potent neuroprotective agent whose effectiveness relies on its ability to effectively up-regulate MEF2D in DA neurons against toxic stress in models of PD in vitro and in vivo.