Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Cerebellar Vermis and Midbrain Hypoplasia Upon Conditional Deletion of Chd7 from the Embryonic Mid-Hindbrain Region

Reduced fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling from the mid-hindbrain or isthmus organizer (IsO) during early embryonic development results in hypoplasia of the midbrain and cerebellar vermis. We previously reported evidence for reduced Fgf8 expression and FGF signaling in the mid-hindbrain region of embryos heterozygous for Chd7, the gene mutated in CHARGE (Coloboma, Heart defects, choanal Atresia, Retarded growth and development, Genitourinary anomalies and Ear defects) syndrome. However, Chd7+/− animals only exhibit mild cerebellar vermis anomalies. As homozygous deletion of Chd7 is embryonic lethal, we conditionally deleted Chd7 from the early embryonic mid-hindbrain region to identify the function of CHD7 in mid-hindbrain development. Using a combination of high resolution structural MRI and histology, we report striking midbrain and cerebellar vermis hypoplasia in the homozygous conditional mutants. We show that cerebellar vermis hypoplasia is associated with reduced embryonic Fgf8 expression and an expanded roof plate in rhombomere 1 (r1). These findings identify an essential role for Chd7 in regulating mid-hindbrain development via Fgf8.
Tap and push: assessing the value of direct physical control in human-robot collaborative tasks

In this paper, we compare a touch-based human-to-robot command scheme with traditional button commands in a series of human-robot collaborative assembly tasks. We find a mapping between command style and task outcome that depends on task complexity and is influenced by robot "feel. " In our direct touch-based scheme, the user commands the robot through direct physical contact by tapping and pushing the robot. With a small, compliant desktop robot and a simple, scripted, bolt insertion task, button commands performed slightly better than direct physical commands in quantitative task performance metrics and qualitative user preference. In a second study with a human-scale, stiffer robot arm, physical commands performed better than button commands in a more complex and less scripted bolt insertion task, which greatly outperformed using buttons in a cooperative positioning task. We conclude that commanding a robot through direct force-transmitting contact can decrease task completion time, aid in teamwork, and improve user experience in appropriately chosen tasks. We achieve our haptic commands using only robot position sensors, demonstrating that direct, intuitive physical command is an option for existing position-controlled industrial robots.
Acute Necrotizing Encephalopathy in an Adult

Acute necrotizing encephalopathy (ANE) is a rapidly progressing neurologic disorder that occurs in children after common viral infections of the respiratory or gastrointestinal systems. This disease is commonly seen in East Asia. Normal healthy infants and children can get affected. The condition carries a poor prognosis with high morbidity and mortality rates. We report here a case of a 23-year-old female with ANE and describe its neuroimaging findings. Magnetic resonance imaging examination performed showed symmetric lesions involving the thalami, brainstem, and cerebellum.
Decision Theoretic Execution Strategies for Modularized Problem Solvers

Large-scale problem solving algorithms will prove to be critical in implementing the long-term vision of cyberphysical systems (CPS). Such algorithms will be highly modularized -that is, they will use subroutines implemented behind abstract interfaces. A characteristic of many problem solving algorithms is that their performance varies wildly depending on which order subroutines are executed, with which parameters, and which computational resources. These choices must be made in the face of unpredictable subroutine behavior. We propose a formalism that treats the problem solving algorithm as a decision-making agent in a belief space, casting the problem of choosing a subroutine execution strategy as a Markov decision process (MDP). This formalism has already been applied successfully to many existing problems in robotics and AI, and holds promise for CPS applications and fundamental CPS research in the future.
Predictors for pneumonitis during locoregional radiotherapy in high‐risk patients with breast carcinoma treated with high‐dose chemotherapy and stem‐cell rescue

To study the predictive value of serial pulmonary function testing (PFT) for toxicity in patients who have received high‐dose chemotherapy (HDCT) and stem‐cell rescue for breast carcinoma. These patients are at risk of developing therapy‐related pneumonitis (TRP) during or after radiotherapy (RT).
Maximal migration of human smooth muscle cells on fibronectin and type IV collagen occurs at an intermediate attachment strength

Although a biphasic dependence of cell migration speed on cell- substratum adhesiveness has been predicted theoretically, experimental data directly demonstrating a relationship between these two phenomena have been lacking. To determine whether an optimal strength of cell- substratum adhesive interactions exists for cell migration, we measured quantitatively both the initial attachment strength and migration speed of human smooth muscle cells (HSMCs) on a range of surface concentrations of fibronectin (Fn) and type IV collagen (CnIV). Initial attachment strength was measured in order to characterize short time- scale cell-substratum interactions, which may be representative of dynamic interactions involved in cell migration. The critical fluid shear stress for cell detachment, determined in a radial-flow detachment assay, increased linearly with the surface concentrations of adsorbed Fn and CnIV. The detachment stress required for cells on Fn, 3.6 +/- 0.2 x 10(-3) mu dynes/absorbed molecule, was much greater than that on CnIV, 5.0 +/- 1.4 x 10(-5) mu dynes/absorbed molecule. Time- lapse videomicroscopy of individual cell movement paths showed that the migration behavior of HSMCs on these substrates varied with the absorbed concentration of each matrix protein, exhibiting biphasic dependence. Cell speed reached a maximum at intermediate concentrations of both proteins, with optimal concentrations for migration at 1 x 10(3) molecules/micron2 and 1 x 10(4) molecules/micron2 on Fn and CnIV, respectively. These optimal protein concentrations represent optimal initial attachment strengths corresponding to detachment shear stresses of 3.8 mu dyne/micron2 on Fn and 1.5 mu dyne/micron2 on CnIV. Thus, while the optimal absorbed protein concentrations for migration on Fn and CnIV differed by an order of magnitude, the optimal initial attachment strengths for migration on these two proteins were very similar. Further, the same minimum strength of initial attachment, corresponding to a detachment shear stress of approximately 1 mu dyne/micron2, was required for movement on either protein. These results suggest that initial cell-substratum attachment strength is a central variable governing cell migration speed, able to correlate observations of motility on substrata differing in adhesiveness. They also demonstrate that migration speed depends in biphasic manner on attachment strength, with maximal migration at an intermediate level of cell-substratum adhesiveness.
Kidney function estimated with different formulas in centenarians.

PURPOSE There are growing doubts about the accuracy of Cockcroft-Gault formula (CG) used for the estimation of creatinine clearance, especially in elderly. Recently, the authors of the multicenter trial of the Modification of Diet in Renal Diseases (MDRD) have proposed a new equation. Moreover, Baracskay et al. (B), proposed the special formula for the estimation of kidney function (KF) in elderly. The aim of our study was to compare the results of KF calculated with these three formulas in centenarians. MATERIAL AND METHODS The study involved 50 centenarian subjects aged 100-111 years (41 females and 9 males) who participated in Polish Centenarians Program. In all of them KF was estimated with the CG, B and MDRD formulas. RESULTS In the whole population examined, the mean KF according to CG was lower in comparison to both others (p < 0.001 vs both B and MDRD). Also, in females CG results were the lowest (p < 0.001 vs both B and MDRD). In contrast, KF calculated according to CG and B did not differ in males. The results of the MDRD formula significantly exceeded the two others also in males (p < 0.001 vs CG and B). No impact of gender on the obtained results could be found when CG and MDRD were used. However, according to B, the mean values for females were higher (p < 0.01). CONCLUSIONS KF calculated with the CG, B and MDRD formulas significantly differed in the centenarians examined. Thus, further studies, which include a reference standard, are necessary to answer the question which of these mathematical formulas is the most reliable for the calculation of KF in the elderly.
Sinus Membrane Elevation by the Crestal Approach Using a Novel Drilling System

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical outcomes of patients undergoing sinus membrane elevation by a minimally invasive crestal approach using a novel drilling system. Materials and Methods: From May 2008 to November 2009, 21 implants were placed in 19 patients (10 men and 9 women) ranging from 23 to 69 years of age (average of 49.5 years). Implants were placed in maxillary premolar and molar areas that demonstrated insufficient residual bone quality; maxillary sinus membrane elevation was performed using a crestal approach with the sinus crestal approach kit (Neobiotech, Seoul, Korea). Results: There was no sinus perforation or osseointegration failure. The implant survival rate was 100%. The postsurgical, augmented volume of the alveolar height ranged from 2 to 9.2 mm (average of 5.81 ± 2.06 mm). Six months after maxillary sinus elevation, the bone reduction volume ranged from 0.06 to 1.42 mm (average of 0.6 ± 0.38 mm). At final F/U, the amount of bone-height reduction ranged from 0.06 to 2.60 mm (average of 0.82 ± 0.63 mm). Conclusion: Sinus membrane elevation by the crestal approach using special reamers is advantageous because of the noticeable reduction in the risk of perforation and the ability to perform the surgery rapidly.
CaMKII inhibitors: from research tools to therapeutic agents

The cardiac field has benefited from the availability of several CaMKII inhibitors serving as research tools to test putative CaMKII pathways associated with cardiovascular physiology and pathophysiology. Successful demonstrations of its critical pathophysiological roles have elevated CaMKII as a key target in heart failure, arrhythmia, and other forms of heart disease. This has caught the attention of the pharmaceutical industry, which is now racing to develop CaMKII inhibitors as safe and effective therapeutic agents. While the first generation of CaMKII inhibitor development is focused on blocking its activity based on ATP binding to its catalytic site, future inhibitors can also target sites affecting its regulation by Ca2+/CaM or translocation to some of its protein substrates. The recent availability of crystal structures of the kinase in the autoinhibited and activated state, and of the dodecameric holoenzyme, provides insights into the mechanism of action of existing inhibitors. It is also accelerating the design and development of better pharmacological inhibitors. This review examines the structure of the kinase and suggests possible sites for its inhibition. It also analyzes the uses and limitations of current research tools. Development of new inhibitors will enable preclinical proof of concept tests and clinical development of successful lead compounds, as well as improved research tools to more accurately examine and extend knowledge of the role of CaMKII in cardiac health and disease.
Cardiac computed tomography: Diagnostic utility and integration in clinical practice

Cardiac applications of computed tomography (CT) is a rapidly growing diagnostic area because of the ability to visualize plaque burden (coronary artery calcification [CAC]) and luminal obstruction (computed tomographic angiography [CTA]) noninvasively. Coronary artery calcification has been validated in over 1,000 studies over the last 20 years, primarily with electron beam tomography. Studies demonstrate several indications that could aid physicians in the management of symptomatic and asymptomatic patients. Determining that a symptomatic patient has no CAC is associated with both a lower risk of an abnormal nuclear study and angiographic obstruction. The ability to detect subclinical atherosclerosis (CAC) with minimal radiation and no contrast makes this an attractive method for risk stratification. New studies demonstrate a 10‐fold risk of cardiovascular events with increasing amounts of coronary calcification. The invasive nature, expense, and risk resulting from invasive angiography have been instrumental in encouraging the development of new diagnostic methods that allow the coronary arteries to be visualized noninvasively. Multislice CT, with its advanced spatial and temporal resolution, has opened up new possibilities in the imaging of the heart and major vessels of the chest, including the coronary arteries. The last decade has seen great strides in the field of cardiac imaging, particularly in the ability to visualize the coronary lumen with sufficient diagnostic accuracy. Possessing that qualification, CTA is now being used increasingly in clinical practice. As a result of having high spatial and improved temporal resolutions, this imaging modality not only allows branches of the coronary artery to be evaluated, but also allows simultaneous analysis of other cardiac structures, making it extremely useful for other cardiac applications. This paper reviews the diagnostic utility and limitations of cardiac CT and how it could be integrated into clinical practice.
Learning Low-Rank Class-Specific Dictionary and Sparse Intra-Class Variant Dictionary for Face Recognition

Face recognition is challenging especially when the images from different persons are similar to each other due to variations in illumination, expression, and occlusion. If we have sufficient training images of each person which can span the facial variations of that person under testing conditions, sparse representation based classification (SRC) achieves very promising results. However, in many applications, face recognition often encounters the small sample size problem arising from the small number of available training images for each person. In this paper, we present a novel face recognition framework by utilizing low-rank and sparse error matrix decomposition, and sparse coding techniques (LRSE+SC). Firstly, the low-rank matrix recovery technique is applied to decompose the face images per class into a low-rank matrix and a sparse error matrix. The low-rank matrix of each individual is a class-specific dictionary and it captures the discriminative feature of this individual. The sparse error matrix represents the intra-class variations, such as illumination, expression changes. Secondly, we combine the low-rank part (representative basis) of each person into a supervised dictionary and integrate all the sparse error matrix of each individual into a within-individual variant dictionary which can be applied to represent the possible variations between the testing and training images. Then these two dictionaries are used to code the query image. The within-individual variant dictionary can be shared by all the subjects and only contribute to explain the lighting conditions, expressions, and occlusions of the query image rather than discrimination. At last, a reconstruction-based scheme is adopted for face recognition. Since the within-individual dictionary is introduced, LRSE+SC can handle the problem of the corrupted training data and the situation that not all subjects have enough samples for training. Experimental results show that our method achieves the state-of-the-art results on AR, FERET, FRGC and LFW databases.
Optical study on incommensurate phase transitions of (C3H7NH3)2MnCl4.

The optical activity and birefringence of (C 3 H 7 NH 3 ) 2 MnCl 4 were measured with use of the high-accuracy universal polarimeter (HAUP) method. An important property manifested by the incommensurate γ phase, i.e., reentrant phase transition, was studied in light of the knowledge that the optical gyration directly reflects the order parameter of the incommensurate modulation. Critical exponents β for the temperature variations of gyration in both high- and low-temperature regions of the y phase were found to be nearly constant
Let Us Now Praise Famous Gullies: Providence Canyon and the Soils of the South by Paul S. Sutter (review)

The title of Paul Sutter’s Let Us Now Praise Famous Gullies is derived from James Agee’s Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (1941), in which Agee and photographer Walker Evans chronicle the lives of southern tenant farmers during the Great Depression. As Sutter states, Agee, Evans, and other artists of the time refused “to simplify and package, for propagandistic ends, the complex lives of the poor and generally. What I do find to be central to Epprecht’s inquiry, and which is raised in the introduction but not explicitly returned to, is a question of the role of science. Epprecht astutely observes the role of science in the exertion and extension of the colonial and racial state (a chapter is dedicated to the struggles of Edendale’s residents and particularly women against being researched and known by state health authorities). Yet Epprecht is also clear that science is necessary to promote ecohealth, both for humans and the environment. In a global sociopolitical context of skepticism about science and truth claims due in part to the abuse of science as well as politically unpalatable “truths”, how do we negotiate the science of both the past and present? Even if Epprecht does not spell out the answer to this, I believe this book provides a key: his work is careful, empathetic and not afraid to challenge accepted answers (either politically or theoretically). The claims Epprecht makes are (barring proposals of degrowth) fairly specific, but the implications of the type of scholarship make this a worthwhile read far beyond those interested in Edendale, South Africa, or even southern urbanism. Disclosure I worked as a research assistant on the wider project Urban Ecosystems and Human Health which supported this book, although was not directly involved in the Marc’s research.
Sensing by Proxy : Occupancy Detection Based on Indoor CO 2 Concentration

Sensing by proxy, as described in this study, is a sensing paradigm which infers latent factors by “proxy” measurements based on constitutive models that exploit the spatial and physical features in the system. In this study, we demonstrate the efficiency of sensing by proxy for occupancy detection based on indoor CO2 concentration. We propose a link model that relates the proxy measurements with unknown human emission rates based on a data-driven model which consists of a coupled Partial Differential Equation (PDE) – Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE) system. We report on several experimental results using both a CO2 pump that emulates human breathing, as well as measurements of actual occupancy by performing controlled field experiments, in order to validate our model. Parameters of the model are datadriven, which exhibit long-term stability and robustness across all the occupants experiments. The inference of the number of occupants in the room based on CO2 measurements at the air return and air supply vents by sensing by proxy outperforms a range of machine learning algorithms, and achieves an overall mean squared error of 0.6569 (fractional person), while the best alternative by Bayes net is 1.2061 (fractional person). Building indoor occupancy is essential to facilitate heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) control, lighting adjustment, and occupancy-aware services to achieve occupancy comfort and energy efficiency. The significance of this study is the proposal of a paradigm of sensing that results in a parsimonious and accurate occupancy inference model, which holds considerable potential for energy saving and improvement of HVAC operations. The proposed framework can be also applied to other tasks, such as indoor pollutants source identification, while requiring minimal infrastructure expenses. Keywords–Occupancy detection; Building energy efficiency
Elevated Thymidine Phosphorylase Activity in the Plasma and Ascitic Fluids of Tumor-Bearing Animals 1

Summary Activity of thymidine (TdR) phosphorylase (EC 2.4.2.4; TdR: ortho-phosphate deoxyribosyltransferase) in the plasma of healthy and tumor-bearing mice and rats was evaluated in comparative studies. Increased enzyme activity was recorded in 9 of 11 tumor models tested, and highest values were obtained for mice with lymphoid or myeloid leukemia. Heightened activity of this TdR-degrading enzyme was observed in the plasma of mice bearing three of four solid tumors. Elevated TdR phosphorylase activity was also identified in the peritoneal exudate fluids in each of four groups of animals carrying ascites-producing tumors.
Autonomous hyperparathyroidism in X‐linked hypophosphataemia

Four patients with familial hypophosphataemic rickets developed significant hypercalcaemia which persisted after discontinuation of vitamin D therapy. They had increased PTH levels and were operated for hyperparathyroldism at the ages of 18, 20, 24 and 45 years, respectively. Three of the patients had previously received phosphate treatment and one patient developed hyperparathyroldism 7 years after treatment with calcitriol. Histological evaluation revealed different degrees of parathyroid hyperplasia in all patients, with persistently Increased PTH and/or calcium levels after surgery. The possibility of autonomous hyperparathyroldism should be evaluated in the follow‐up of patients with X‐linked hypophosphataemic rickets.
Role of ApoCs in lipoprotein metabolism: functional differences between ApoC1, ApoC2, and ApoC3.

The human apoCs (ie, apoC1, apoC2, and apoC3) are often portrayed as members of 1 consistent protein family because of their similar distributions among lipoprotein classes, their low molecular weights, and coincident purification. The human apoCs are protein constituents of chylomicrons, VLDL, and HDL. In comparison with the intensely studied apoE, apoB, and apoA1, which play important roles in the development of hyperlipidemia and atherosclerosis, only modest attention has been paid so far to the roles of the apoCs in lipoprotein metabolism. Many of the studies regarding the functional properties of apoCs have been hampered by methodological problems dealing with purification, quantification, and their poorly understood association with hyperlipidemia and other lipoprotein disorders. In the past few years, however, new insights into the metabolic properties of apoCs have been provided, in particular by the technologies of transgenesis and gene targeting in mice.
Role of Islam in prevention of smoking.

BACKGROUND Smoking is common all over the world. It is a pandemic pollution. In spite of awareness about its dangerous effects on the health, tobacco companies spend million of dollars on its advertisement and sales promotion. This study tried to see the effect of Islam on prevention of smoking. METHODS The study was carried out on 1000 subjects residing in different localities of Abbottabad. The basic method used was a questionnaire designed specifically to give an idea of the religious status of person and correlate that with their smoking habits. RESULTS Out of the study group 325 (32.5%) were found to be indulged in different kinds of smoking and we concluded that Islam has a positive effect on smoking prevention.