Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Alpha-particle-induced sister chromatid exchange in normal human lung fibroblasts: evidence for an extranuclear target.

We investigated the relationship between nuclear hits by alpha particles and the subsequent occurrence of sister chromatid exchanges (SCEs) in normal human diploid lung fibroblasts (HFL1). Cells were exposed to 238Pu alpha particles at doses ranging from 0.4-12.9 cGy and subsequently analyzed for SCEs. A significant increase in SCE frequency was observed even at the lowest dose examined. The extent of induction of SCEs in the HFL1 cells showed dose dependency in the very low dose range, i.e. 0.4-2.0 cGy. Thereafter, induction of SCEs was independent of dose. Based on measurements of the nuclear areas of the HFL1 cells in conjunction with target theory calculations, the lowest dose resulted in an approximately 8.6-fold increase in the percentage of cells showing excessive SCEs over the theoretically expected percentage of cells whose nuclei were calculated to be traversed by one or more alpha particles. The extent of the discrepancies between theoretically expected and experimentally observed frequencies of SCEs became progressively reduced with increasing radiation dose. We additionally determined that SCEs induced by the alpha particles have no significant dependency on the time of cell collection after exposure to a selected dose of alpha particles, thereby confirming that the differences between the theoretically predicted and observed SCE frequencies were not due to an artifact of the time of cell sampling for the SCE measurements. These results obtained with normal human cells are similar to those of other investigators who observed excessive SCEs in immortalized rodent cells beyond that which could be attributed exclusively to nuclear traversals by alpha particles. Such consistent findings point to the existence of an alternative, extranuclear target through which alpha particles cause DNA damage, as detected by SCE analysis. The existence of an extranuclear compartment as a target for alpha particles may have important implications for the susceptibility of lung cells to the DNA-damaging effects of alpha-particle exposure due to the inhalation of radon progeny.
Postoperative evaluation and result recording in the anterior cruciate ligament reconstructed knee.

For some years it has been recognized that an international method for recording and reporting results of knee surgery for rotatory instability is imperative. Since the decade from 1955 to 1965, when O’Donoghue16 described early surgery for knee ligament disruption, a common anatomic or comparative language for evaluating and reporting results has been lacking. With the current need for exceedingly precise goals and objectives as they relate to surgery for rotatory instability, a common method of recording and standard definitions of terms are even more pressing. This chapter addresses postoperative result evaluation; however, many of the techniques can be applied equally satisfactorily to preoperative evaluation. Knee surgeons evaluate joint stability in a variety of ways, e.g., manual examination, radiography and straingauge technology. Results are recorded by narrative, locally developed formats, digit systems, and computerized programs. Briefly, the author has tried to include perspective strengths and limitations, state of the art, and potentials of evaluation techniques and result recording systems used by orthopaedic surgeons today.
Automated and reliable brain radiology with texture analysis of magnetic resonance imaging and cross datasets validation

Reliable brain tumor radiology is one of the serious mortality issues of medical hospitals and on priority of healthcare departments. In this research, the presence of brain tumor and its type (if exists) is automatically diagnosed from magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The first step is most important where suitable parameters from Gabor texture analysis are extracted and then classified with a support vector machine. The drive of this research activity is to verify robustness of the proposed model on cross datasets, so that it could deal with variability and multiformity present in MRI data. Further to this, the developed approach is able to deploy as a real application in the local environment. Therefore, once a model has been trained and tested on an openly available benchmarked dataset, it is retested on a different dataset acquired from a local source. Standard evaluation measures, that is, accuracy, specificity, sensitivity, precision, and AUC‐values have been used to evaluate the robustness of the proposed method. It has been established that the proposed method has the ability to deal with multiformity, variability, and local medical traits present in brain MRI data.
A classification scheme for childhood cancer

The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) is sponsoring a worldwide study of childhood cancer incidence. Cancers in children are highly specific and differ in many ways from cancers found in adults. Data for the international study will be presented according to the classification scheme described below which has been devised specifically for use with paediatric cancers. The features of this scheme are: (I) it is based on the International Classification of Diseases for Oncology (ICD‐O); (2) diagnostic groups are defined mainly in terms of morphology; (3) the common types of childhood cancer are individually specified; (4) certain other rare conditions of interest are distinguished; (5) it provides for flexibility of data presentation with respect to amount of detail; (6) all possible combinations of ICD‐O morphology and topography codes are included; and (7) the maximum number of codes has been allocated to specific categories. There is a great need for standardization in the classification of childhood cancers and we propose that the scheme be used for presentation of incidence data for results of aetiologicaf and other related studies of cancer in children.
COSEBIs: Extracting the full E-/B-mode information from cosmic shear correlation functions

Context. Cosmic shear is considered one of the most powerful methods for studying the properties of dark energy in the Universe. As a standard method, the two-point correlation functions ξ_±(ϑ) of the cosmic shear field are used as statistical measures for the shear field. Aims. In order to separate the observed shear into E- and B-modes, the latter being most likely produced by remaining systematics in the data set and/or intrinsic alignment effects, several statistics have been defined before. Here we aim at a complete E-/B-mode decomposition of the cosmic shear information contained in the ξ_± on a finite angular interval. Methods. We construct two sets of such E-/B-mode measures, namely Complete Orthogonal Sets of E-/B-mode Integrals (COSEBIs), characterized by weight functions between the ξ_± and the COSEBIs which are polynomials in ϑ or polynomials in ϑ, respectively. Considering the likelihood in cosmological parameter space, constructed from the COSEBIs, we study their information content. Results. We show that the information grows with the number of COSEBI modes taken into account, and that an asymptotic limit is reached which defines the maximum available information in the E-mode component of the ξ_±. We show that this limit is reached the earlier (i.e., for a smaller number of modes considered) the narrower the angular range is over which ξ_± are measured, and it is reached much earlier for logarithmic weight functions. For example, for on the interval 1' ≤ ϑ ≤ 400', the asymptotic limit for the parameter pair (Ω_m, σ_8) is reached for ~25 modes in the linear case, but already for 5 modes in the logarithmic case. The COSEBIs form a natural discrete set of quantities, which we suggest as method of choice in future cosmic shear likelihood analyses.
Combining a photocatalyst with microtopography to develop effective antifouling materials

Polydimethylsiloxane surfaces textured with a square-wave linear grating profile (0, 20, 200, 300 and 600 μm), and embedded with a range of photocatalytic titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticle loadings (3.75, 7.5, 11.25 and 15 wt.%), were used to test the combined efficacy of these technologies as antifouling materials. Settlement of the fouling bryozoan species Bugula neritina was quantified in the laboratory under two intensities of UV light. The lowest settlement rates were observed on 20 μm surfaces. However, texture effects were not as critical to larval settlement as the presence of TiO2. In conjunction with UV light, TiO2 completely inhibited larval metamorphosis even at the lowest loading (3.75 wt.%) and the lowest intensity of UV light (24 W m−2). Recruitment of B. neritina was also quantified in field trials and showed similar results to laboratory assays. The lowest recruitment was observed on 20 and 200 μm surfaces, with recruitment being significantly lower on all surfaces containing TiO2. Therefore for B. neritina, although all TiO2 loadings were effective, 3.75 wt. % can be used as a minimum inhibitory concentration to deter larval settlement and the addition of a 20 μm texture further increases the deterrent effect.
Responses to auxin signals: an operating principle for dynamical sensitivity yet high resilience

Plants depend on the signalling of the phytohormone auxin for their development and for responding to environmental perturbations. The associated biomolecular signalling network involves a negative feedback on Aux/IAA proteins which mediate the influence of auxin (the signal) on the auxin response factor (ARF) transcription factors (the drivers of the response). To probe the role of this feedback, we consider alternative in silico signalling networks implementing different operating principles. By a comparative analysis, we find that the presence of a negative feedback allows the system to have a far larger sensitivity in its dynamical response to auxin and that this sensitivity does not prevent the system from being highly resilient. Given this insight, we build a new biomolecular signalling model for quantitatively describing such Aux/IAA and ARF responses.
Activities of daily living measured by the Harvard Automated Phone Task track with cognitive decline over time in non-demented elderly.

Background Impairment in activities of daily living is a major burden to both patients and caregivers. Mild impairment in instrumental activities of daily living is often seen at the stage of mild cognitive impairment. The field of Alzheimer's disease is moving toward earlier diagnosis and intervention and more sensitive and ecologically valid assessments of instrumental or complex activities of daily living are needed. The Harvard Automated Phone Task, a novel performance-based activities of daily living instrument, has the potential to fill this gap. Objective To further validate the Harvard Automated Phone Task by assessing its longitudinal relationship to global cognition and specific cognitive domains in clinically normal elderly and individuals with mild cognitive impairment. Design In a longitudinal study, the Harvard Automated Phone Task was associated with cognitive measures using mixed effects models. The Harvard Automated Phone Task's ability to discriminate across diagnostic groups at baseline was also assessed. Setting Academic clinical research center. Participants Two hundred and seven participants (45 young normal, 141 clinically normal elderly, and 21 mild cognitive impairment) were recruited from the community and the memory disorders clinics at Brigham and Women's Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. Measurements Participants performed the three tasks of the Harvard Automated Phone Task, which consist of navigating an interactive voice response system to refill a prescription (APT-Script), select a new primary care physician (APT-PCP), and make a bank account transfer and payment (APT-Bank). The 3 tasks were scored based on time, errors, repetitions, and correct completion of the task. The primary outcome measure used for each of the tasks was total time adjusted for correct completion. Results The Harvard Automated Phone Task discriminated well between young normal, clinically normal elderly, and mild cognitive impairment participants (APT-Script: p<0.001; APT-PCP: p<0.001; APT-Bank: p=0.04). Worse baseline Harvard Automated Phone Task performance or worsening Harvard Automated Phone Task performance over time tracked with overall worse performance or worsening performance over time in global cognition, processing speed, executive function, and episodic memory. Conclusions Prior cross-sectional and current longitudinal analyses have demonstrated the utility of the Harvard Automated Phone Task, a new performance-based activities of daily living instrument, in the assessment of early changes in complex activities of daily living in non-demented elderly at risk for Alzheimer's disease. Future studies will focus on cross-validation with other sensitive activities of daily living tests and Alzheimer's disease biomarkers.
Neuronal impairment of adult moyamoya disease detected by quantified proton MRS and comparison with cerebral perfusion by SPECT with tc‐99m HM‐PAO: A trial of clinical quantification of metabolites

We evaluated neuronal impairment of adult moyamoya patients by proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) and cerebral perfusion scintigraphy. After evaluating two methods for compensating relaxation times, we selected a long TR, short TE sequence to achieve better reproducibility. The cerebral blood flow (CBF) value was measured by scintigraphy following the method of quantification reported in the previous literature. N‐acetyl aspartate (NAA) concentrations and CBFs value were decreased statistically (P < 0.05) compared with those of the age‐matched normal controls. However, the decreased rate of NAA concentration was changed more than the CBF value, and no linear correlation was found between the two values. We considered that the NAA concentration was not always correlated with that of the present cerebral perfusion. The NAA concentration showed a more dispersive distribution in patients than in controls, indicating a large individual variation in neuronal impairment. We concluded that proton MRS may provide useful information about neuronal impairment in individual patients. J. Magn. Reson Imaging 1999;10:124–129. © 1999 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
CDC2L5, a Cdk‐like kinase with RS domain, interacts with the ASF/SF2‐associated protein p32 and affects splicing in vivo

The human CDC2L5 gene encodes a protein of unknown physiological function. This protein is closely related to the cyclin‐dependent kinase (Cdks) family and contains an arginine/serine‐rich (RS) domain. The Cdks were first identified as crucial regulators of cell‐cycle progression, more recently they were found to be involved in transcription and mRNA processing. RS domains are mainly present in proteins regulating pre‐mRNA splicing, suggesting CDC2L5 having a possible role in this process. In this study, we demonstrate that CDC2L5 is located in the nucleoplasm, at a higher concentration in speckles, the storage sites for splicing factors. Furthermore, this localization is dependent on the presence of the N‐terminal sequence including the RS domain. Then, we report that CDC2L5 directly interacts with the ASF/SF2‐associated protein p32, a protein involved in splicing regulation. Overexpression of CDC2L5 constructs disturbs constitutive splicing and switches alternative splice site selection in vivo. These results argue in favor of a functional role of the CDC2L5 kinase in splicing regulation. J. Cell. Biochem. 99: 890–904, 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Further Evidence On External Auditors Reliance On Internal Auditors

In this study I examined whether external auditors actually adjust the nature and extent of audit procedures due to reliance on internal auditors and, if so, whether any such reliance was related to the source reliability of the internal auditors (defined by internal auditor competence-work performance and objectivity). In this respect this study complements previous ones undertaken by Schneider [1984a; 1984b] who studied similar relationships using a within-subjects design. In contrast, however, I used a between-subjects design. The results of my study indicate that external auditors reduced planned audit hours if the internal auditors had a high level of competence-work performance, but they did not alter their tests in response to changes in the degree of internal auditor objectivity. Even here, however, the results did suggest that internal auditors had to perform documented work in a specific area before the external auditors would alter the amount of planned audit hours. Similarly, Schneider [1984a; 1984b] found internal auditor competence and work performance were perceived as almost equally important in reliance decisions, with objectivity less important, although not trivial. In section 2, 1 discuss the method used in conducting the study, followed
Color Biological Features-Based Solder Paste Defects Detection and Classification on Printed Circuit Boards

Deposited solder paste inspection plays a critical role in surface mounting processes. When detecting solder pastes defects on a printed circuit board, profile measurement-based methods suffer from large system size, high cost, and low speed for inspection, although they provide 3-D information of solder pastes. In contrast, image analysis-based methods facilitate the defect detection process of solder pastes by treating them as a pattern recognition problem. However, existing image analysis methods do not perform well because low-level visual features cannot catch sufficient information for defect detection. This paper proposes a new defect detection scheme for solder pastes based on learning the color biological feature sub-manifold. In particular, we apply the biologically inspired color feature (BICF) to represent the solder paste images, and introduce a new sub-manifold learning method to extract the intrinsic low-dimensional BICF manifold embedded in an extrinsic high-dimensional ambient space. This scheme mimics the function of human visual cortex in recognition tasks, and can separate poor quality solder pastes from good quality ones. We apply the new scheme to our automated optical inspection system, and thorough empirical studies indicate the effectiveness of the new scheme for practical utilization.
Parkinson's disease and resistive exercise: Rationale, review, and recommendations

Individuals with Parkinson's disease (PD) are not only burdened with disease‐specific symptoms (i.e., bradykinesia, rigidity, and tremor), but are also confronted with age‐associated progressive loss of physical function, perhaps to a greater extent than neurologically normal adults. Suggestions for the inclusion of resistive exercise into treatment to attenuate these symptoms were made over 10 years ago, yet very few well controlled investigations are available. The objective of this review is to establish a clear rationale for the efficacy of resistance training in individuals with PD. Specifically, we highlight musculoskeletal weakness and its relationship to function as well as potential training‐induced adaptive alterations in the neuromuscular system. We also review the few resistance training interventions currently available, but limit this review to those investigations that provide a quantitative exercise prescription. Finally, we recommend future lines of inquiry warranting further attention and call to question the rationale behind current exercise prescriptions. The absence of reports contraindicating resistive exercise, the potential for positive adaptation, and the noted benefits of resistance training in other populations may provide support for its inclusion into a treatment approach to PD. © 2007 Movement Disorder Society
Oversampling Analog-to-Digital Converter Design

Summary form only given. Analog-to-digital converters (or sigma-delta) converters have now become routine aspects of high- performance signal processing, ranging from precision audio to RF transceivers. In this tutorial, we will present, in a systematic fashion, the basics and design aspects of delta-sigma data converters, along with a case study of a high performance ADC designed for digital audio. The intended audience is analog/mixed signal designers with limited prior exposure to over sampling converters and graduate students. Anyone interested in designing, simulating and testing such converters should benefit greatly by attending this tutorial.
Rapid and stable measurement of respiratory rate from Doppler radar signals using time domain autocorrelation model

Noncontact measurement of respiratory rate using Doppler radar will play a vital role in future clinical practice. Doppler radar remotely monitors the tiny chest wall movements induced by respiration activity. The most competitive advantage of this technique is to allow users fully unconstrained with no biological electrode attachments. However, the Doppler radar, unlike other contact-type sensors, is easily affected by the random body movements. In this paper, we proposed a time domain autocorrelation model to process the radar signals for rapid and stable estimation of the respiratory rate. We tested the autocorrelation model on 8 subjects in laboratory, and compared the respiratory rates detected by noncontact radar with reference contact-type respiratory effort belt. Autocorrelation model showed the effects of reducing the random body movement noise added to Doppler radar's respiration signals. Moreover, the respiratory rate can be rapidly calculated from the first main peak in the autocorrelation waveform within 10 s.
Similarity Search in multidimensional time series using the Coulomb's law

With the technological advancement, associated to the low production cost of instruments used to collect observations, there has been an increase in the amount of available data for analysis. The collected data present intrinsic relations between them that are not perceptive without a careful analysis, requiring the use of specic techniques to manipulate them. In this context, we propose a time series descriptor, based on the principle of the Coulomb Law, to perform similarity search over multidimensional time series. The proposed descriptor is composed of a new time series extractor and a new distance function for multidimensional time series. Moreover, this paper presents the Coulomb method that describe how to employ the proposed descriptor to perform similarity search over multidimensional time series. According to the experiments performed over climatic and medical databases, the proposed method promotes a larger reduction in the feature vector size and achieves higher accuracy values when compared with other time series descriptors based on Fourier Transform and Brute-force solution.