Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Rating Burn Wounds by Dynamic Thermography

Use of the dynamic thermography (lock-in and pulse) for assessment of burns is discussed. Measurements of burns under medical treatment with different depth of affected tissue (from the first to the third-degree burns) are shown. The thermographic data are correlated with histopathological analysis of lesions. The results show that dynamic thermography might be advice as a simple, noninvasive and non-stressed for patients diagnostic tool. Further analysis of dynamic pictures gives the first estimate of the depth of a lesion.
An Ethics Perspective on Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) and Human Neuromodulation

This paper concerns the ethics of human neuromodulation using transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS). We examine the challenges of modulating the brain with TMS through the research ethics lens and in clinical medicine for treating frank pathology, primarily in psychiatric diseases. We also consider contemporary issues raised in the neuroethics literature about managing unexpected findings, and relate these to TMS and to other frontier neurotechnology that is becoming openly available in the public domain. We argue that safety and informed consent are of paramount importance for TMS, but that personal values and sociocultural factors must also be considered when examining the promise of this technology and applications that ought to be highlighted for extra precautions.
Indwelling ureteral stents: evaluation of quality of life to aid outcome analysis.

BACKGROUND Ureteral stents cause various side effects. We have evaluated health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with stents using validated questionnaires and developed a new stent symptom (intervention)-specific questionnaire (SSQ). PATIENTS AND METHODS Along with structured literature review and in-depth interviews, prospective sub-studies were carried out using generic (SF-36 [N = 30], EuroQol [N = 40], and Functional Status Questionnaire FSQ [N = 20]) and symptom-specific (IPSS [N = 30] and International Continence Society ICS [N = 30]) questionnaires both with a stent in situ and after removal. The results of these studies formed the foundation for a new SSQ that was pilot tested (N = 10) and field tested (N = 20) in order to develop a final draft of the questionnaire that is formally validated. RESULTS The qualitative research identified a range of problems. Urinary symptoms, pain, work performance, and general health were the most important. Most patients (80%) experienced bothersome urinary symptoms and stent-related pain. Storage symptoms and incontinence were significant urinary symptoms affecting quality of life. As many as 40% of patients experienced sexual dysfunction. The stent had a significant impact on patients' general health. None of the existing measures evaluated the complete impact. The SSQ includes five sections covering urinary symptoms, pain, sexual matters, general health, and work performance. The preliminary results showed it to be valid, reliable (alpha > 0.7) and responsive to the change in scores (p < 0.05) after stent removal. CONCLUSIONS Indwelling ureteral stents are associated with significant morbidity, resulting in a reduced HRQoL in 80% of patients. The SSQ is a reliable intervention-specific instrument that would be useful as an outcome measure to evaluate the impact of stents.
VivoAge-Associated T Cell Clonal Expansions In Requirements for Development of Molecular, Cellular, and Antigen

T cell aging manifests itself both at the cellular (cell-autonomous defects in signaling) and at the population (age-related dysregulation of T cell homeostasis) levels. A prominent contributor to the latter is the appearance of T cell clonal expansions (TCE), with a potential to impair immune defense. In this study, we investigated molecular, cellular, and Ag requirements for TCE development. Of the mutant mice tested, old animals lacking MHC class I exhibited 7-fold fewer TCE than controls, with a 7-fold reduction in TCE. By contrast, animals lacking only one of the MHC class I molecules (K b or D b ), or IL-7R, or devoid of T cell renewal via adult thymectomy, all exhibited signiﬁcant increases in TCE incidence. This increase directly correlated to lymphopenia, increased CD8 T cell turnover and an accumulation of memory-phenotype T cells. These data suggested that homeostatic cell division in the CD8 compartment enhances the formation of TCE. Repeated immunization with peptide/adjuvant did not result in an increase in Ag-speciﬁc TCE; however, adjuvant alone increased TCE incidence. In these experiments, therefore, nonspeciﬁc and/or homeostatic proliferation was more efﬁcient in generating TCE in mice than repeated Ag-driven stimulation, suggesting that many, if not most, TCE in speciﬁc pathogen-free laboratory mice may be Ag-independent. The Journal of Immunology, 2006, 176: 301–308.
Neurological disorders in pregnancy

Purpose of review Neurological disorders are common in women of childbearing age and can lead to maternal death, as evident from previous reports of the Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths in England and Wales. In the last report (1997-1999) alone, there were 34 deaths indirectly caused by neurological disorders. Recent findings With the new developments in drugs, investigations and research, clinicians are now more able than ever before to diagnose and treat some disorders. A recent example is the French Study Group on Stroke in Pregnancy. Summary This paper reviews the current concepts and outlines appropriate management of conditions such as epilepsy, headache, benign intracranial hypertension, myasthenia gravis, multiple sclerosis, Bell's palsy and cerebrovascular disorders.
Energy efficient design for tactile internet

Ensuring the ultra-low end-to-end latency and ultrahigh reliability required by tactile internet is challenging. This is especially true when the stringent Quality-of-Service (QoS) requirement is expected to be satisfied not at the cost of significantly reducing spectral efficiency and energy efficiency (EE). In this paper, we study how to maximize the EE for tactile internet under the stringent QoS constraint, where both queueing delay and transmission delay are taken into account. We first validate that the upper bound of queueing delay violation probability derived from the effective bandwidth can be used to characterize the queueing delay violation probability in the short delay regime for Poisson arrival process. However, the upper bound is not tight for short delay, which leads to conservative designs and hence leads to wasting energy. To avoid this, we optimize resource allocation that depends on the queue state information and channel state information. Analytical results show that with a large number of transmit antennas the EE achieved by the proposed policy approaches to the EE limit achieved for infinite delay bound, which implies that the policy does not lead to any EE loss. Simulation and numerical results show that even for not-so-large number of antennas, the EE achieved by the proposed policy is still close to the EE limit.
Factors contributing to anemia after uncomplicated falciparum malaria.

The factors contributing to anemia in falciparum malaria were characterized in 4,007 prospectively studied patients on the western border of Thailand. Of these, 727 patients (18%) presented with anemia (haematocrit < 30%), and 1% (55 of 5,253) required blood transfusion. The following were found to be independent risk factors for anemia at admission: age < 5 years, a palpable spleen, a palpable liver, recrudescent infections, being female, a prolonged history of illness (> 2 days) before admission, and pure Plasmodium falciparum infections rather than mixed P. falciparum and Plasmodium vivax infections. The mean maximum fractional fall in hematocrit after antimalarial treatment was 14.1% of the baseline value (95% confidence interval [CI], 13.6-14.6). This reduction was significantly greater in young children (aged < 5 years) and in patients with a prolonged illness, high parasitemia, or delayed parasite clearance. Loss of parasitized erythrocytes accounted for < 10% of overall red blood cell loss. Hematological recovery was usually complete within 6 weeks, but it was slower in patients who were anemic at admission (adjusted hazards ratio [AHR], 1.9, 95% CI, 1.5-2.3), and those whose infections recrudesced (AHR, 1.2, 95% CI, 1.01-1.5). Half the patients with treatment failure were anemic at 6 weeks compared with 19% of successfully treated patients (relative risk, 2.8, 95% CI, 2.0-3.8). Patients coinfected with P. vivax (16% of the total) were 1.8 (95% CI, 1.2-2.6) times less likely to become anemic and recovered 1.3 (95% CI, 1.0-1.5) times faster than those with P. falciparum only. Anemia is related to drug resistance and treatment failure in uncomplicated malaria. Children aged < 5 years of age were more likely than older children or adults to become anemic. Coinfection with P. vivax attenuates the anemia of falciparum malaria, presumably by modifying the severity of the infection.
[Clinical spectrum and incidence of neuro-borreliosis in the Netherlands].

OBJECTIVE To determine the clinical spectrum and incidence of neuroborreliosis in the Netherlands. DESIGN Retrospective. METHOD All neurological practices in 106 hospital locations in the Netherlands were asked to look for patients with the codes 'other neurological infections' or 'Borrelia burgdorferi' in their Diagnosis & Treatment Combinations registration or the Neurological Coding System, respectively, concerning the year 2001, then to identify the patients with neuroborreliosis and to send a copy of the correspondence with the family doctor and the laboratory data on these patients, after making them anonymous, for data extraction. Pleocytosis in the cerebrospinal fluid combined with a positive test for IgM or IgG antibodies of B. burgdorferi in the serum or cerebrospinal fluid was used as the criterion for the diagnosis neuroborreliosis. RESULTS Forty-seven (44%) neurological practices did not respond and twenty-two (21%) either did not use any kind of diagnosis registration system or linkage between the registration and the patient file was impossible. Of the 37 (35%) neurological practices that provided information, 17 had diagnosed neuroborreliosis in 30 patients, 20 of whom met the specified criteria. Fifteen (75%) patients had a radiculopathy, 8 (40%) a peripheral facial palsy and 3 (15%) a myelopathy. CONCLUSION The clinical spectrum of patients with neuroborreliosis was consistent with that described in Denmark. The incidence of neuroborreliosis found was 3.6 per million inhabitants. The real incidence was probably higher because the registration systems used allowed patients with neuroborreliosis to be booked under other (symptomatic) diagnostic codes, paediatricians were not involved in the study, and relatively few participating neurologists practiced in high-risk areas for tick bites and erythema migrans. The low incidence of neuroborreliosis in combination with a high background level of seropositivity in the population implies a low predictive value of positive Borrelia serology. It is therefore essential that when neuroborreliosis is suspected, the cerebrospinal fluid should always be investigated.
Human facial dysostoses

The human facial dysostoses can be subdivided into mandibulofacial dysostoses (MFDs) and acrofacial dysostoses (AFDs). The craniofacial phenotypes of the two groups of patients are similar. Both types are thought to be related to abnormal migration of neural crest cells to the pharyngeal arches and the face. The craniofacial anomalies shared by the two groups consist of downslanting palpebral fissures, coloboma of the lower eyelid, from which the eyelashes medial to the defect may be absent, hypoplasia of the zygomatic complex, micrognathia, and microtia, which is often associated with hearing loss. These facial deformities are associated with limb anomalies in the AFDs. All MFDs present with the typical craniofacial phenotype, but some have additional features that help to distinguish them clinically: intellectual disability, microcephaly, chest deformity, ptosis, cleft lip/palate, macroblepharon, or blepharophimosis. The limb anomalies in the AFDs can be classified into pre‐axial, post‐axial, and others not fitting into the first two AFD types. Of the pre‐axial types, Nager syndrome and of the post‐axial types, Miller syndrome are the best‐known disorders of their AFD subgroups. Several other AFDs with unknown molecular genetic bases, including lethal ones, have been described. This article reviews the MFDs and AFDs published to date.
Lessons Learned? A Critical Review of the Government Program to Resettle Bosnian Quota Refugees in the United Kingdom 1

This study critically evaluates the government program put in place to manage the reception and resettlement of Bosnian quota refugees who arrived in the United Kingdom between November 1992 and August 1995. It outlines the organizational structure put in place to administer the program, the objectives of the program, and the scale of funding allocated to it. It describes how the program was then implemented and critically appraises the outcomes. Particular attention is paid to how the government sought to engineer a desired spatial pattern of resettlement (clustering), how it attempted to steer Bosnians away from settlement in London, and how it tried to create stable and rooted local communities of Bosnians. We conclude that the program was far more successful than previous programs of its type in the United Kingdom, but that further lessons can be learned from it, which could be incorporated in future attempts to resettle large groups of asylum seekers or refugees.
Clinicopathological definition of Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia: consensus panel recommendations from the Second International Workshop on Waldenstrom's Macroglobulinemia.

This presentation represents consensus recommendations for the clinicopathological definition of Waldenstrom's macroglobulinemia (WM), which were prepared in conjunction with the Second International Workshop held in Athens, Greece during September 2002. WM is an uncommon lymphoproliferative disorder characterized primarily by bone marrow infiltration and IgM monoclonal gammopathy. It should be considered a distinct clinicopathological entity rather than a clinical syndrome secondary to IgM secretion. The underlying pathological diagnosis in WM is lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Revised European-American Lymphoma (REAL) classification criteria. The concentration of monoclonal IgM can vary widely in WM and it is not possible to define a concentration that reliably distinguishes WM from monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance (MGUS) and other lymphoproliferative disorders. A diagnosis of WM can therefore be made irrespective of IgM concentration if there is evidence on a bone marrow trephine biopsy of bone marrow infiltration by lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma with predominantly an intertrabecular pattern, supported by appropriate immunophenotypic studies. Simple criteria to distinguish patients with symptomatic WM who require therapy from those with asymptomatic WM and MGUS were also proposed. Patients with clinical features attributable to IgM monoclonal gammopathy but no overt evidence of lymphoma are considered to constitute a distinct clinical group and the term "IgM-related disorders" is proposed.
Benefits of Using Shrubs as Nurse Plants for Reforestation in Mediterranean Mountains: A 4‐Year Study

Shrubs are commonly considered competitors of planted seedlings in reforestation programs. However, shrubs can facilitate the establishment of understory seedlings in environments that, like Mediterranean‐type ecosystems, are characterized by harsh environmental conditions. In 1997, an experiment was set up in the Sierra Nevada mountains (southeast Spain) to test the use of shrubs as nurse plants for an alternative reforestation technique. Two‐year‐old seedlings of Pinus sylvestris and Pinus nigra were planted in four microhabitats: (1) open interspaces without vegetation (which is the usual method employed in reforestation programs), (2) under individuals of the shrub Salvia lavandulifolia, (3) under the north side of spiny shrubs, and (4) under the south side of spiny shrubs. Seedlings were also distributed in plots with and without ungulates to test the effect of herbivore damage. We report here the results of survival and growth after four growing seasons, a time span long enough to draw robust conclusions concerning the suitability of this technique. Pine survival was remarkably higher when planted under individuals of S. lavandulifolia as compared with open areas (2.6 times for P. sylvestris and 1.8 for P. nigra). The survival of both pine species was also higher when planted on the north side of spiny shrubs, while mortality on the south side was similar to that found in open areas. The reduction of solar radiation by the canopy of shrubs was likely the main factor determining shrub facilitation. The growth of the pines differed among years. However, growth was not inhibited when planted with shrubs as compared with open areas in any of the years. Herbivore damage was low but was mostly concentrated in the leader shoot, exacerbating the deleterious effect of ungulate herbivores on pine growth. We conclude that the use of shrubs as nurse plants for reforestation is a viable technique to increase establishment success of reforestation in Mediterranean‐type ecosystems and that it might be similarly useful in other water‐stressed environments. In addition, this technique offers the advantage of following natural succession, thus minimizing the impact in the community.
The "mighty mouse" multi-screen collaboration tool

Many computer operating systems provide seamless support for multiple display screens, but there are few cross-platform tools for collaborative use of multiple computers in a shared display environment. Mighty Mouse is a novel groupware tool built on the public domain VNC protocol. It is tailored specifically for face-to-face collaboration where multiple heterogeneous computers (usually laptops) are viewed simultaneously (usually via projectors) by people working together on a variety of applications under various operating systems. Mighty Mouse uses only the remote input capability of VNC, but enhances this with various features to support flexible movement between the various platforms, "floor control" to facilitate smooth collaboration, and customization features to accommodate different user, platform, and application preferences in a relatively seamless manner. The design rationale arises from specific observations about how people collaborate in meetings, which allows certain simplifying assumptions to be made in the implementation.
Inequity as Violence: Race, Health and Human Rights in the United States.

By every conventional index, the United States is the most violent society among industrialized nations. Consequently, violence and its effects have become a national preoccupation, the repetitive staple of the media, the subject of a broad spectrum of concern (ranging from sociological conferences to electoral politics), and a key factor in the ongoing American divisions of race and class. Yet paradoxically, in every venue from public discourse to congressional debate, our definitions and discussions of violence are strikingly restrictive, diverting attention from injuries more massive than those conventionally defined. With few exceptions, our concerns refer only to violence as the use of physical force by individuals to cause injuryand so we talk of guns and gangs, and domestic battering, rape and murder, militias and bombs. Of course these phenomena are serious and deserve our urgent attention. But there are other kinds of violence-actions and policies which, by intent or omission, result in predictable harm to the physical and mental health of large populations and, further, are a major stimulus to conventionally defined violence. There is, for example, what has been called constructive violence: to overcome or prevent resistance by threat or (more pertinently in the United States) by systematic deprivation. There is violence by failure to observe established restraints: in Mississippi at this moment, for example, a district attorney is seeking the death penalty for a 13-year-old child marginally involved in a car-jacking.
Linear Features Extraction From Remote Sensing Image Based on Wedgelet Decomposition

Linear feature extraction is an important problem for remote sensing image processing, and it is very difficult to extract those linear features embedded in strong noise or when the SNR (signal to noise) is low like the complicated environment of remote sensing image. In this paper, an algorithm based on wedgelet decomposition is proposed to extract linear features from remote sensing image. Firstly, beamlets can be generated by recursive dyadic partitioning, vertex marking and connecting in different scales, and beamlet transform is implemented as one important parameter to generate edge map of linear feature. Secondly, each dyadic square is split into two wedgelet segments, and wedgelet decomposition is implemented as the other important parameter to generate edge map of linear feature. The propose method can detect lines with any orientation, location and length in different scales. Experimental results show that the proposed method can extract linear features accurately from remote sensing image. It can be suited to remote sensing image processing and in practice it has surprisingly powerful and apparently unprecedented capabilities.
Augmenting Tabletop Design for Computer-Supported Cooperative Work

With the development of novel tabletop technologies there is also a growing research interest in cooperative work with interactive tables. This paper presents an analysis of the different kinds of traditional tables that exist in an office environment. The tables’ relation to the range of activities that they afford and support are discussed. Concluding from this, design issues for interactive tables and their corresponding software are brought up together with examples from the body of research on interactive tables as well as potential research directions for the future.