Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Intravascular US-guided direct intrahepatic portocaval shunt with an expanded polytetrafluoroethylene-covered stent-graft.

PURPOSE To retrospectively evaluate the midterm patency rate of the nitinol (Viatorr, W.L. Gore and Associates, Flagstaff, Ariz) stent-graft for direct intrahepatic portacaval shunt (DIPS) creation. MATERIALS AND METHODS Institutional Review Board approval for this retrospective HIPAA-compliant study was obtained with waiver of informed consent. DIPS was created in 18 men and one woman (median age, 54 years; range, 45-65 years) by using nitinol polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)-covered stent-grafts. The primary indications were intractable ascites (n = 14), acute variceal bleeding (n = 3), and hydrothorax (n = 2). Follow-up included Doppler ultrasonography at 1, 6, and 12 months and venography with manometry at 6-month intervals after the procedure. Shunt patency and cumulative survival were evaluated by using the Kaplan-Meier method and survival curves were plotted. Differences in mean portosystemic gradients (PSGs) were evaluated by using the Student t test. Multiple regression analysis for survival and DIPS patency were performed for the following parameters: Child-Pugh class, model of end-stage liver disease score, pre- and post-DIPS PSGs, pre-DIPS liver function tests, and pre-DIPS creatinine levels. RESULTS DIPS creation was successful in all patients. Effective portal decompression and free antegrade shunt flow was achieved in all patients. Intraperitoneal bleeding occurred in one patient during the procedure and was controlled during the same procedure by placing a second nitinol stent-graft. The primary patency rate was 100% at all times during the follow-up period (range, 2 days to 30 months; mean, 256 days; median, 160 days). Flow restrictors were deployed in two (11%) of 19 patients. The 1-year mortality rate was 37% (seven of 19). CONCLUSION Patency after DIPS creation with the nitinol PTFE-covered stent-graft was superior to that after TIPS with the nitinol stent-graft.
Report on EuroHCIR 2013

This paper reports on the 3rd European Workshop on Human-Computer Interaction and Information Retrieval co-located with the 36th international ACM SIGIR conference on Research and development in information retrieval, held in Dublin, Ireland, August 1, 2013. The workshop gathered 32 participants with 6 papers for oral presentations and 8 short papers with poster presentations covering a good range of topics and research questions in the intersection of HCI and IR. Group exercises in connection to the oral presentations resulted in a set of important aspects to be considered in future research in HCI and IR.
Efficient Compilation of Stream Programs for Heterogeneous Architectures: A Model-Checking based approach

Stream programming based on the synchronous data flow (SDF) model naturally exposes data, task and pipeline parallelism. Statically scheduling stream programs for homogeneous architectures has been an area of extensive research. With graphic processing units (GPUs) now emerging as general purpose co-processors, scheduling and distribution of these stream programs onto heterogeneous architectures (having both GPUs and CPUs) provides for challenging research. Exploiting this abundant parallelism in hardware, and providing a scalable solution is a hard problem. In this paper we describe a coarse-grained software pipelined scheduling algorithm for stream programs which statically schedules a stream graph onto heterogeneous architectures. We formulate the problem of partitioning the work between the CPU cores and the GPU as a model-checking problem. The partitioning process takes into account the costs of the required buffer layout transformations associated with the partitioning and the distribution of the stream graph. The solution trace result from the model checking provides a map for the distribution of actors across different processors/-cores. This solution is then divided into stages, and then a coarse grained software-pipelined code is generated. We use CUDA streams to map these programs synergistically onto the CPU and GPUs. We use a performance model for data transfers to determine the optimal number of CUDA streams on GPUs. Our software-pipelined schedule yields a speedup of upto 55.86X and a geometric mean speedup of 9.62X over a single threaded CPU.
Tuning Complex Sensornet Systems Using Principled Engineering Methods

Sensornet lifespan and utility is limited by the energy resources of individual motes. Network designers seek to maximise energy efficiency while maintaining acceptable Quality of Service. However, the interactions between multiple tunable protocol parameters and multiple performance metrics are generally complex and unknown, and combinatorial explosion renders impossible any exhaustive search approach. In this paper we describe an engineering method to address this multi-dimensional optimisation problem. We apply a Design Of Experiments approach to sample the entire search space. Statistical models are fitted to experimental results to define relationships between inputs and outputs, and to obtain near-optimal solutions.
Vertebral Artery Ostium Atherosclerotic Plaque as a Potential Source of Posterior Circulation Ischemic Stroke: Result From Borgess Medical Center Vertebral Artery Ostium Stenting Registry

Background and Purpose— Although atherosclerotic plaque in the carotid and coronary arteries is accepted as a cause of ischemia, vertebral artery ostium (VAO) atherosclerotic plaque is not widely recognized as a source of ischemic stroke. We seek to demonstrate its implication in some posterior circulation ischemia. Methods— This is a nonrandomized, prospective, single-center registry on consecutive patients presenting with posterior circulation ischemia who underwent VAO stenting for significant atherosclerotic stenosis. Diagnostic evaluation and imaging studies determined the likelihood of this lesion as the symptom source (highly likely, probable, or highly unlikely). Patients were divided into 4 groups in decreasing order of severity of clinical presentation (ischemic stroke, TIA then stroke, TIA, asymptomatic), which were compared with the morphological and hemodynamic characteristics of the VAO plaque. Clinical follow-up 1 year after stenting assessed symptom recurrence. Results— One hundred fourteen patients underwent stenting of 127 lesions; 35% of the lesions were highly likely the source of symptoms, 53% were probable, and 12% were highly unlikely. Clinical presentation correlated directly with plaque irregularity and presence of clot at the VAO, as did bilateral lesions and presence of tandem lesions. Symptom recurrence at 1 year was 2%. Conclusions— Thirty-five percent of the lesions were highly likely the source of the symptoms. A direct relationship between some morphological/hemodynamic characteristics and the severity of clinical presentation was also found. Finally, patients had a very low rate of symptom recurrence after treatment. These 3 observations point strongly to VAO plaque as a potential source of some posterior circulation stroke.
Pausing Purkinje Cells in the Cerebellum of the Awake Cat

A recent controversy has emerged concerning the existence of long pauses, presumably reflecting bistability of membrane potential, in the cerebellar Purkinje cells (PC) of awake animals. It is generally agreed that in the anesthetized animals and in vitro, these cells switch between two stable membrane potential states: a depolarized state (the ‘up-state’) characterized by continuous firing of simple spikes (SS) and a hyperpolarized state (the ‘down-state’) characterized by long pauses in the SS activity. To address the existence of long pauses in the neural activity of cerebellar PCs in the awake and behaving animal we used extracellular recordings in cats and find that approximately half of the recorded PCs exhibit such long pauses in the SS activity and transition between activity – periods with uninterrupted SS lasting an average of 1300 ms – and pauses up to several seconds. We called these cells pausing Purkinje cells (PPC) and they can easily be distinguished from continuous firing Purkinje cells. In most PPCs, state transitions in both directions were often associated (25% of state transitions) with complex spikes (CSs). This is consistent with intracellular findings of CS-driven state transitions. In sum, we present proof for the existence of long pauses in the PC SS activity that probably reflect underlying bistability, provide the first in-depth analysis of these pauses and show for the first time that transitions in and out of these pauses are related to CS firing in the awake and behaving animal.
Transforming Ethnographic Knowledge

The ethnographic methods that anthropologists first developed to study other cultures fieldwork, participant observation, dialogue are now being adapted for a broad array of applications, such as business, conflict resolution and demobilization, wildlife conservation, education, and biomedicine. In "Transforming Ethnographic Knowledge," anthropologists trace the changes they have seen in ethnography as a method and as an intellectual approach, and they offer examples of ethnography s role in social change and its capacity to transform its practitioners. Senior scholars Mary Catherine Bateson, Sidney Mintz, and J. Lorand Matory look back at how thinking ethnographically shaped both their work and their lives, and George Marcus suggests that the methods for teaching and training anthropologists need rethinking and updating. The second part of the volume features anthropologists working in sectors where ethnography is finding or claiming new relevance: Kamari Maxine Clarke looks at ethnographers involvement (or non-involvement) in military conflict, Csilla Kalocsai employs ethnographic tools to understand the dynamics of corporate management, Rebecca Hardin and Melissa Remis take their own anthropological training into rainforests where wildlife conservation and research meet changing subsistence practices and gendered politics of social difference, and Marcia Inhorn shows how the interests in mobility and diasporic connection that characterize a new generation of ethnographic work also apply to medical technologies, as those mediate fertility and relate to social status in the Middle East. "
Qualitative: Open Source Python Tool for Quality Estimation over Multiple Machine Translation Outputs

Abstract “Qualitative” is a python toolkit for ranking and selection of sentence-level output by different MT systems using Quality Estimation. The toolkit implements a basic pipeline for annotating the given sentences with black-box features. Consequently, it applies a machine learning mechanism in order to rank data based on models pre-trained on human preferences. The preprocessing pipeline includes support for language models, PCFG parsing, language checking tools and various other pre-processors and feature generators. The code follows the principles of object-oriented programming to allow modularity and extensibility. The tool can operate by processing both batch-files and single sentences. An XML-RPC interface is provided for hooking up with web-services and a graphical animated web-based interface demonstrates its potential on-line use.
SRSF10 Regulates Alternative Splicing and Is Required for Adipocyte Differentiation

ABSTRACT During adipocyte differentiation, significant alternative splicing changes occur in association with the adipogenic process. However, little is known about roles played by splicing factors in this process. We observed that mice deficient for the splicing factor SRSF10 exhibit severely impaired development of subcutaneous white adipose tissue (WAT) as a result of defects in adipogenic differentiation. To identify splicing events responsible for this, transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq) analysis was performed using embryonic fibroblast cells. Several SRSF10-affected splicing events that are implicated in adipogenesis have been identified. Notably, lipin1, known as an important regulator during adipogenesis, was further investigated. While lipin1β is mainly involved in lipogenesis, its alternatively spliced isoform lipin1α, generated through the skipping of exon 7, is primarily required for initial adipocyte differentiation. Skipping of exon 7 is controlled by an SRSF10-regulated cis element located in the constitutive exon 8. The activity of this element depends on the binding of SRSF10 and correlates with the relative abundance of lipin1α mRNA. A series of experiments demonstrated that SRSF10 controls the production of lipin1α and thus promotes adipocyte differentiation. Indeed, lipin1α expression could rescue SRSF10-mediated adipogenic defects. Taken together, our results identify SRSF10 as an essential regulator for adipocyte differentiation and also provide new insights into splicing control by SRSF10 in lipin1 pre-mRNA splicing.
Interference alignment with limited feedback

We consider single-antenna interference networks where M sources, each with an average transmit power of P/M, communicate with M destinations over frequency-selective channels (with L taps each) and each destination has perfect knowledge of its channels from each of the sources. Assuming that there exist error-free non-interfering broadcast feedback links from each destination to all the nodes (i.e., sources and destinations) in the network, we show that naive interference alignment, in conjunction with vector quantization of the impulse response coefficients according to the scheme proposed in Mukkavilli et al., IEEE Trans. IT, 2003, achieves full spatial multiplexing gain of M/2, provided that the number of feedback bits broadcast by each destination is at least M(L − 1) log P.
A Dual-Frequency DRA Based on Substrate Integrated Waveguide

A novel dielectric resonator antenna (DRA) with dual-frequency operation based on substrate integrated waveguide is proposed. The proposed antenna has low profile characteristic, just like a microstrip antenna, but has lower dielectric loss and surface wave loss at high frequency. The design approach is discussed, and with the optimization technique, an antenna centered at 19 and 22 GHz is successfully designed, the calculated results show that this antenna has -10dB return loss bandwidth of 400MHz at 19GHz and 420MHz at 22GHz, and the maximum gain of 6dB at 19GHz and 5dB at 22GHz, respectively, the efficiency of this antenna is 89%.
Evidence - Based Pharmacological Treatment of Atopic Dermatitis: An Expert Opinion and New Expectations

Atopic dermatitis (AD) is one of the most common skin diseases with a complex multifactorial background. The clinical presentation, the aggravating factors and the complications vary according to the age of the patients. Most cases, approximately 60-80%, present for the 1st time before the age of 12 months. Adult-onset AD has been observed as a special variant. Pruritus is the worst sign of AD, which also often indicates an exacerbation and is considered to be the most annoying symptom of AD. Treatment is preferably started based on the severity of AD. In only 10% of the cases, AD is so severe that systemic treatment is necessary. Systemic treatment including topical wet-wrap treatment is indicated in the worst and recalcitrant cases of AD. Systemic treatment of AD is discussed with regards to the evidence-based efficacy and safety aspects. I prefer wet-wraps as a crisis intervention in severe childhood cases, whereas UV and systemic treatments are the choices in patients older than 10 years. Probiotics are not useful in the treatment. If they have any effect at all it may only be in food-allergic children with AD. Finally, anti-histamines are not effective against pruritus in AD. They are only effective against urticarial flares and in cases with food-allergy. This article consists of an expert opinion on evidence-based pharmacological treatment of AD, but it is not a systemic review.
Option pricing in the multidimensional Black-Scholes-Merton market with Gaussian Heath-Jarrow-Morton interest rates: the parsimonious and consistent Hull-White models of Vasicek and Nelson-Siegel type

An explicit state-price deflator for the multidimensional Black-Scholes-Merton market with a multiple factor Gaussian bond price dynamics is constructed. It immediately yields an extension of the Margrabe formula in this multiple risk economy. Restricting further the attention to those Gaussian Heath-Jarrow-Morton interest rate models with time-homogeneous sensitivities that share the Markov diffusion property, one is led to consider models of the Hull-White type only. For practical reasons, only consistent families of yield curves are retained. That is, if an initial forward rate curve has a given form, then its future evolution should remain of the same form. Given two simple consistent forms and their most parsimonious parameterizations with two respectively four parameters, as well as their corresponding Hull-White models, we derive an explicit generalized Black-Scholes formula that takes into account the Hull-White term structure.
Effects of Acute and Chronic Low Frequency Electromagnetic Field Exposure on PC12 Cells during Neuronal Differentiation

Background/Aims. The purpose of this study was to provide information about the in vitro neuritogenesis during cell exposure to extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMFs) of different intensities and durations using pheochromocytoma-derived cell line (PC12 cells) as neuronal model. Methods. Proliferative rates and neuritogenesis were tested by colorimetric assay and morphological analysis, respectively; reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels and intracellular Ca2+ variations monitored using single cell videomicroscopy. Results. The long-lasting ELF-EMF exposure (0.1-1.0 mT) did not appear to significantly affect the biological response (proliferation and neuritogenesis). However, during the acute ELF-EMF exposure (30 min), in undifferentiated PC12 cells, there were increased ROS levels and decreased catalase activity, that, conversely, resulted increased after chronic exposure (7 days) at 1.0 mT. Acute exposure (0.1-1.0 mT) affected the spontaneous intracellular Ca2+ variations in undifferentiated cells, in which basal intracellular Ca2+ resulted increased after chronic exposure. In addition acute exposure affected cell response to a depolarizing agent, while basal membrane potential was not changed. Conclusion. Even if further studies remain necessary to identify the ROS/intracellular Ca2+cross-talking pathway activated by ELF-EMF exposure, we support the hypothesis that ROS and Ca2+ could be the cellular “primum movens” of the ELF-EMF induced effects on biological systems.
The relationship between implant stability quotient values and implant insertion variables: a clinical study.

The aim of this study was to determine whether resonance frequency analysis can be integrated into the routine clinical evaluation of the initial healing of dental implants. In addition, this study was designed to verify whether there was a correlation between implant stability quotient (ISQ) values, maximum insertion torque values, angular momentum and energy, and to evaluate the importance of different clinical factors in the determination of ISQ values and maximum insertion torque values at implant insertion. Two different implant designs of 81 dental implants in 41 patients were evaluated using ISQ values. Maximum insertion torque values were obtained during the placement procedure. Two new methods were used to calculate the angular momentum developed due to implant installation as well as the energy absorbed by the bone. A linear correlation between ISQ values and maximum insertion torque values at the initial implant surgery was found (P < 0·01). There was a correlation between ISQ values and angular momentum (P < 0·05), although ISQ values and energy did not show a significant linear correlation at the initial surgery (P > 0·05). There was a correlation between maximum insertion torque values, each part's angular momentum, and their energies during installation (P < 0·01). The sequence of the variables that influenced ISQ values was implant location, design, diameter, and gender of the patient. The results of this experiment suggest that both ISQ values and new methods to calculate angular momentum and energy can help to predict implant stability.
A novel, batch modular learning approach for ECG beat classification

We investigate a modular architecture for ECG beat classification. The feature space is divided into distinct regions and individual classifiers are developed for each region. We compare different combination strategies, and feature space partition strategies. We also describe a novel, batch modular learning method that can be used to incrementally improve the performance of the modular network.
Merging the electro-thermal life model for power cables with the statistical volume enlargement law

In this paper the combined electro-thermal life model for the insulation of power cables is extended in order to include the volume enlargement law, whereby the statistical breakdown behavior with the increase of insulation volume is accounted for. In this way, a new comprehensive model is obtained, whose usefulness lies in that it includes the effect of volume enlargement - beside that of electrical and thermal stresses - on life estimation. This combination is particularly useful for power cables. Indeed, the extrapolation from laboratory test results to in-field expectations implies a significant enlargement process over cable insulation volume, since life tests are performed using short cable lengths and, furthermore, “mini-cables” most of times. Consequently the estimation of life expectation of a full size cable installed in field cannot disregard the volume enlargement law. In the paper, the novel extended life model is illustrated and discussed considering both AC and DC high voltage power cables.
Bounded-leg distance and reachability oracles

In a weighted, directed graph an <i>L</i>-bounded leg path is one whose constituent edges have length at most <i>L. </i> For any fixed <i>L</i>, computing <i>L</i>-bounded leg shortest paths is just as easy as the standard shortest path algorithm. In this paper we study <i>approximate distance oracles</i> (and <i>reachability</i> oracles) for bounded leg path problems, where the leg bound <i>L</i> is not known in advance, but forms part of the query. Bounded-leg path problems are more complicated than standard shortest path problems because the number of distinct shortest paths between two vertices (over all leg bounds) could be as large as the number of edges in the graph. The bounded leg constraint models situations where there is some limited resource that must be spent when traversing an edge. For example, the size of a fuel tank or the life of a battery places a hard limit on how far a vehicle can travel in one leg before refueling or recharging. Someone making a long road trip may place a hard limit on how many hours they are willing to drive in any one day. Our main result is a nearly optimal algorithm for preprocessing a directed graph in order to answer <i>approximate</i> bounded leg distance and bounded leg shortest path queries. In particular, we can preprocess any graph in Õ(<i>n</i><sup>3</sup>) time, producing a data structure with size Õ(<i>n</i><sup>2</sup>) that answers (1 + ∈)-approximate bounded leg distance queries in <i>O</i>(log log <i>n</i>) time. If the corresponding (1 + ∈)-approximate shortest path has <i>l</i> edges it can be returned in <i>O</i>(<i>l</i> log log <i>n</i>) time. These bounds are all within polylog(<i>n</i>) factors of the best standard all-pairs shortest path algorithm and improve substantially the previous best bounded leg shortest path algorithm, whose preprocessing time and space are <i>O</i>(<i>n</i><sup>4</sup>) and <i>Õ</i>(<i>n</i><sup>2.5</sup>). We also consider bounded leg oracles in other situations. In the context of planar directed graphs we give a time-space tradeoff for answering bounded leg <i>reachability</i> queries. For any <i>k</i> ≥ 2 we can build a data structure with size <i>O</i>(<i>kn</i><sup>1+1/<i>k</i></sup>) that answers reachability queries in time Õ(<i>n<sup>k−1/2k</sup></i>).