Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Trends of Increasing Medical Radiation Exposure in a Population Hospitalized for Cardiovascular Disease (1970–2009)

Background High radiation doses employed in cardiac imaging may increase cancer frequency in exposed patients after decades. The aim of this study was to evaluate the relative trends in medical radiation exposure in a population hospitalized for cardiovascular disease. Methods and Results An observational single-center study was conducted to examine 16,431 consecutive patients with heart disease admitted to the Italian National Research Council Institute of Clinical Physiology between January 1970 and December 2009. In all patients, the cumulative estimated effective dose was obtained from data mining of electronic records of hospital admissions, adopting the effective dose typical values of the American Heart Association 2009 statement and Mettler’s 2008 catalog of doses. Cumulative estimated effective dose per patient in the last 5 years was 22 (12–42) mSv (median, 25th–75th percentiles), with higher values in ischemic heart disease (IHD), 37 (20–59) vs non-IHD, 13 (8–22) mSv, p<0.001. Trends in radiation exposure showed a steady increase in IHD and a flat trend in non-IHD patients, with variation from 1970–74 to 2005–2009 of +155% for IHD (p<0.001) and −1% in non-IHD (NS). The relative contribution of different imaging techniques was remodeled over time, with nuclear cardiology dominating in 1970s (23% of individual exposure) and invasive fluoroscopy in the last decade (90% of individual exposure). Conclusion A progressive increase in cumulative estimated effective dose is observed in hospitalized IHD patients. The growing medical radiation exposure may encourage a more careful justification policy regarding ionizing imaging in cardiology patients applying the two main principles of radiation protection: appropriate justification for ordering and performing each procedure, and careful optimization of the radiation dose used during each procedure.
Investigating population dynamics of the Kumbh Mela through the lens of cell phone data

The Kumbh is a religious Hindu festival that has been celebrated for centuries. The 2013 Kumbh Mela, a grander form of the annual Kumbh, was purportedly the largest gathering of people in human history. Many of the participants carried cell phones, making it possible for us to use a data-driven approach to document this magnificent festival. We used Call Detail Records (CDRs) from participants attending the event, a total of 390 million records, to investigate its population dynamics. We report here on some of our preliminary findings.
TLR2 Mediates Immunity to Experimental Cysticercosis

Information concerning TLR-mediated antigen recognition and regulation of immune responses during helminth infections is scarce. TLR2 is a key molecule required for innate immunity and is involved in the recognition of a wide range of viruses, bacteria, fungi and parasites. Here, we evaluated the role of TLR2 in a Taenia crassiceps cysticercosis model. We compared the course of T. crassiceps infection in C57BL/6 TLR2 knockout mice (TLR2-/-) with that in wild type C57BL/6 (TLR2+/+) mice. In addition, we assessed serum antibody and cytokine profiles, splenic cellular responses and cytokine profiles and the recruitment of alternatively activated macrophages (AAMφs) to the site of the infection. Unlike wild type mice, TLR2-/- mice failed to produce significant levels of inflammatory cytokines in either the serum or the spleen during the first two weeks of Taenia infection. TLR2-/- mice developed a Th2-dominant immune response, whereas TLR2+/+ mice developed a Th1-dominant immune response after Taenia infection. The insufficient production of inflammatory cytokines at early time points and the lack of Th1-dominant adaptive immunity in TLR2-/- mice were associated with significantly elevated parasite burdens; in contrast, TLR2+/+ mice were resistant to infection. Furthermore, increased recruitment of AAMφs expressing PD-L1, PD-L2, OX40L and mannose receptor was observed in TLR2-/- mice. Collectively, these findings indicate that TLR2-dependent signaling pathways are involved in the recognition of T. crassiceps and in the subsequent activation of the innate immune system and production of inflammatory cytokines, which appear to be essential to limit infection during experimental cysticercosis.
[The diagnostics of autism spectrum disorder in children, adolescents and adults: Overview of the key questions and main results of the first part of the German AWMF-S3-clinical guideline].

The diagnostics of autism spectrum disorder in children, adolescents and adults: Overview of the key questions and main results of the first part of the German AWMF-S3-clinical guideline Abstract. BACKGROUND Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) include ICD-10 diagnoses of childhood autism, Asperger syndrome, and atypical autism; there is a lifetime prevalence of ~1 %. The aim of the evidence-based clinical guideline (AWMF-S3-Guideline) is to summarize the current evidence concerning diagnostic and therapeutic processes for professionals working in healthcare and social welfare and to provide consensus on clinical recommendations. The present study summarizes the most important results of the diagnostic part of this guideline. METHOD The guideline group comprised 14 clinical and scientific expert associations from the German healthcare system, in addition to representatives of relatives and patients. Recommendations were based on results of a systematic literature search, data extraction, the evaluation of study quality, and, if possible, meta-analytic aggregation of included data in combination with the clinical expertise of the respective representatives. Consensus-based recommendations were determined via nominal group technique. RESULTS The AWMF-S3-Clinical Guideline, Diagnostic Part, summarizes current research on this topic. The main focus is put on the question of obligatory versus redundant diagnostic procedures. After a general introduction to the clinical picture of ASD, essential aspects like obtaining the medical history, the effective use of screening and diagnostic instruments, medical examination, the full diagnostic work-up as well as communicating the diagnostic results to relatives and patients are described in detail. We also conducted a meta-analysis on the stability of early diagnosis. CONCLUSION This first part of the ASD guideline offers users the opportunity to inform themselves about the background of ASD as well as evidence-based and broadly consented information on the correct diagnostic process of ASD from infancy to adulthood.
Random Beam Patterns from Linear Arrays

The design of linear microphone arrays with randomly spaced elements is investigated. The probability distribution function for the element positions is derived in the continuum limit by matching the response of the array to an objective beam function. An analysis of the expected value and variance of the beam is presented as a function of the angular direction. Comparison of these metrics to those generated from uniformly distributed array positions is conducted. The number of elements and random ensembles required to meet a desired sidelobe level is obtained. It is found that using a probability density function of a particular beam pattern can reduce the side lobe levels of the random samples of the transducer position. Keywords—transducer arrays, transducers
Exploring the Relationship between Model Composition and Model Transformation

In aspect-oriented modeling (AOM), a design is presented in terms of multiple user-defined views (aspects) and model composition is often carried out to obtain a model that provides an integrated view of the design. Typically, model composition involves merging two or more models to obtain a single model. Model composition and model transformations that incorporate new features into a model seem to serve the same purpose: In model composition, the new features that are to be incorporated into a model are explicitly described by one or more source models; in a transformation, the new features are implicitly defined in the transformation actions that are carried out on the input model. The apparent similarities between model composition and model transformations often lead to the following question: Is model composition a special type of model transformation? Answering this question can lead to useful insights that can be used to develop technologies that leverage the relationship between composition and transformation. In this paper we show that there are a number of ways to implement composition as transformations. We give an overview of these approaches in terms of their generality, ease of use, and ease of implementation. The insights gained from our initial analysis suggest that one can implement model composition as model transformations. This is important in that it indicates that research on model composition can leverage research on model transformations.
Ontology-based CNS software development

The heart of Air Traffic Control (ATC) lays in the Control Room (CR) in the ATC en route center, Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON), and ATC Tower (ATCT) facilities. However, CRs are also used in other mission critical domains such as 911, or Emergency control centers. In the past this led to the development of domain specific control rooms resulting in different solutions for each specific environment. This raises the cost for efficient software development and increases the time-to-market. A modern Ontology-Based Control Room Framework (ONTOCOR) could dramatically improve this Air Traffic Management (ATM) situation. Uniform and open standards build up ontologies described by the Web Ontology Language (OWL). Information Management (IM) and the development of uniform and open standards are key components of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen) and Europe's SESAR Program. ONTOCOR increases productive code usage and reduces software development. It focuses on improving efficiency and gain effort by code reusability, thus contributing to reduction of deployment cost of such solutions. This paper analyzes and compares different ontology languages as well as relevant semantic tools for ontology development and management. The present paper will also give a brief survey on ontology-based software engineering, before the ongoing research of ONTOCOR is introduced.
A Refined Energy-Based Model for Friction-Stir Welding

ربتعي حاجن تقلا يتلا ةثيدحلا طامنلأا نم كاكتحلااب ماحللا ا نيقباسلا نيدقعلا يف اديازتم امامتها مث نمو اعساو . دقل عاشأ امم بلصلاو ساحنلاو موينومللأا قئاقر لثم ةلثامتملا ريغو ةلثامتملا داوملا ماحل يف ةينقتلا كلت مادختسا مت ةفلتخم تاعانص يف هلامعتسا . طمنلا اذه دمتعي ءطبب ريست ةراود ةلآ مادختساب ةيرارح ةقاط ديلوت ىلع ماحللا نم ماحللا طخ ىلع . يأ ثودح نود ماحللا ةيلمع مامتلإ يفكت ةيلاع ةرارح تاذ ةقطنم قلخت ةيرارحلا ةقاطلا كلت ماحللا ةقطنم يف راهصنا . ازاغلا ثيح نم راهصنلااب ماحلل ةيديلقتلا بويعلا تشلات دقف ،كلذ ىلع ءانبو ،ةثعبنملا ت داهجلإاو تا ةيقبتملا . نع ةمجانلا ةيرارحلا ةقاطلا رادقمب ؤبنتلا يف همادختسا نكمي ايضاير اجذومن ثحبلا اذه مدقي ماحللا نم عونلا كلذ يف ةندللا تاهوشتلاو كاكتحلاا نم لآ . ،ةيبيرجت ةلداعم مادختسابو ،ةيرارحلا ةقاطلا كلت نم لا ةرارحلا ةجرد ىلع لوصحلا مت ةيبيرجتلا تاسايقلا نم اهتريظن ديعب دح ىلإ تقفاو يتلاو ،ةدلوتملا ىمظع .
Efficacy of Surgical Treatment for Brain Metastasis in Patients with Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer

Purpose Patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and simultaneously having brain metastases at the initial diagnosis, presenting symptoms related brain metastasis, survived shorter duration and showed poor quality of life. We analyzed our experiences on surgical treatment of brain metastasis in patients with NSCLC. Materials and Methods We performed a single-center, retrospective review of 36 patients with NSCLC and synchronous brain metastases between April 2006 and December 2011. Patients were categorized according to the presence of neurological symptoms and having a brain surgery. As a result, 14 patients did not show neurological symptoms and 22 patients presented neurological symptoms. Symptomatic 22 patients were divided into two groups according to undergoing brain surgery (neurosurgery group; n=11, non-neurosurgery group; n=11). We analyzed overall surgery (OS), intracranial progression-free survival (PFS), and quality of life. Results Survival analysis showed there was no difference between patients with neurosurgery (OS, 12.1 months) and non-neurosurgery (OS, 10.2 months; p=0.550). Likewise for intracranial PFS, there was no significant difference between patients with neurosurgery (PFS, 6.3 months) and non-neurosurgery (PFS, 5.3 months; p=0.666). Reliable neurological one month follow up by the Medical Research Council neurological function evaluation scale were performed in symptomatic 22 patients. The scale improved in eight (73%) patients in the neurosurgery group, but only in three (27%) patients in the non-neurosurgery group (p=0.0495). Conclusion Patients with NSCLC and synchronous brain metastases, presenting neurological symptoms showed no survival benefit from neurosurgical resection, although quality of life was improved due to early control of neurological symptoms.
The Poetics of Six-Word Stories

abstract:Six-word stories present an intriguing case study to theorists of literary genres and narratologists alike. Despite the popularity of this peculiar narrative form—probably the latest newcomer to the club of narrative genres—and the fact that it has produced many captivating texts, there is almost no critical discussion of this fast-growing literary phenomenon. After explaining why six-word stories deserve the title of a narrative genre, I offer a brief comparative discussion of such stories alongside traditional short literary forms like aphorisms and proverbs. I then discuss seven important characteristics of six-word stories. The first three comprise the "hard core" of the poetics of the genre, the next two are very common among six-word stories but are not an essential part of its poetics, and the last two are related to the reception and production of the genre: (1) A represented chain of events (the narrative element); (2) The tip of the iceberg principle; (3) The punch-line structure; (4) Poetic, rhythmic structures; (5) The realism of the stories; (6) The "contagiousness" of the form; and (7) The strong connection of the genre to English, the language in which it was first introduced. I conclude by pointing out that while many six-word stories illustrate witty, artistic achievements, there is also the risk that practitioners of the form will mechanically produce dull texts.
A Hierarchy of Tractable Subclasses for SAT and Counting SAT Problems

Finding subclasses of formulae for which the SAT problem can be solved in polynomial time has been an important problem in computer science. We present a new hierarchy of propositional formulæ subclasses for which the SAT and counting SAT problems can be solved in polynomial time. Our tractable subclasses are those propositional formulae in conjunctive normal form where any set of k + 1 clauses are related, i.e., there exists at least one literal in one clause that appears negated in another clause of the considered set of k + 1 clauses. We say this subclass of formulæ is of rank k and it is different from previously known subclasses that are solvable in polynomial time. This is an improvement over the SAT Dichotomy Theorem and the counting SAT Dichotomy Theorem, since our subclass can be moved out from the NP-complete class to the P class. The membership problem for this new subclass can be solved in O(n*l^{k+1}), where n, l and k are the number of variables, clauses and the rank (1 ≤ k ≤ l − 1), respectively. We give an efficient algorithm to approximate the number of assignments for any arbitrary conjunctive normal form propositional formula by an upper bound.
Studies of cosmic microwave background structure at Dec. = + 40° - II. Analysis and cosmological interpretation

We present a detailed analysis of the cosmic microwave background structure in the Tenerife Dec=+40 degrees data. The effect of local atmospheric contributions on the derived fluctuation amplitude is considered, resulting in an improved separation of the intrinsic CMB signal from noise. Our analysis demonstrates the existence of common structure in independent data scans at 15 and 33 GHz. For the case of fluctuations described by a Gaussian auto-correlation function, a likelihood analysis of our combined results at 15 and 33 GHz implies an intrinsic rms fluctuation level of 48^{+21}_{-15} uK on a coherence scale of 4 degrees; the equivalent analysis for a Harrison-Zel'dovitch model gives a power spectrum normalisation of Q_{rms-ps} = 22^{+10}_{-6} uK. The fluctuation amplitude is seen to be consistent at the 68% confidence level with that reported for the COBE two-year data for primordial fluctuations described by a power law model with a spectral index in the range 1.0 \le n \le 1.6. This limit favours the large scale CMB anisotropy being dominated by scalar fluctuations rather than tensor modes from a gravitational wave background. The large scale Tenerife and COBE results are considered in conjunction with observational results from medium scale experiments in order to place improved limits on the fluctuation spectral index; we find n=1.10 +/- 0.10 assuming standard CDM with H_{0}=50 kms^{-1}Mpc^{-1}.
The Hos2 Histone Deacetylase Controls Ustilago maydis Virulence through Direct Regulation of Mating-Type Genes

Morphological changes are critical for host colonisation in plant pathogenic fungi. These changes occur at specific stages of their pathogenic cycle in response to environmental signals and are mediated by transcription factors, which act as master regulators. Histone deacetylases (HDACs) play crucial roles in regulating gene expression, for example by locally modulating the accessibility of chromatin to transcriptional regulators. It has been reported that HDACs play important roles in the virulence of plant fungi. However, the specific environment-sensing pathways that control fungal virulence via HDACs remain poorly characterised. Here we address this question using the maize pathogen Ustilago maydis. We find that the HDAC Hos2 is required for the dimorphic switch and pathogenic development in U. maydis. The deletion of hos2 abolishes the cAMP-dependent expression of mating type genes. Moreover, ChIP experiments detect Hos2 binding to the gene bodies of mating-type genes, which increases in proportion to their expression level following cAMP addition. These observations suggest that Hos2 acts as a downstream component of the cAMP-PKA pathway to control the expression of mating-type genes. Interestingly, we found that Clr3, another HDAC present in U. maydis, also contributes to the cAMP-dependent regulation of mating-type gene expression, demonstrating that Hos2 is not the only HDAC involved in this control system. Overall, our results provide new insights into the role of HDACs in fungal phytopathogenesis.
A computational model for MOS prediction

A computational model to predict MOS (mean opinion score) of processed speech is proposed. The system measures the distortion of processed speech (compared to the source speech) using a peripheral model of the mammalian auditory system and a psychophysically-inspired measure, and maps the distortion value onto the MOS scale. This paper describes our attempt to derive a "universal", database-independent, distortion-to-MOS mapping function. Preliminary experimental evaluation shows that the performance of the proposed system is comparable with ITU-T recommendation P.861 for clean speech sources, and outperforms the P.861 recommendation for speech sources corrupted by either car or babble noise at 30 dB SNR.
Development of a FPGA-based contactless pulse rate detection system

Contactless physiological measurement is a new trend for long-term monitoring and future home care. Remote image photo-plethysmography (RIPPG) is one of data acquisition method for contactless measurement. Nowadays, the presented frameworks are mostly developed based on PC or smartphone. However, the large scale of image and signal operations can cause the performance issues for image capturing and computing on software based platforms. In this paper, we propose a contactless pulse rate detection system based on field-programmable gate array (FPGA) platform to evaluate user's pulse rate. With hardware support, it provides a steadier frame rate for instant operations regardless the computation scales. The system contains an image sensor, DE2-115 FPGA board, Bluetooth module and a smartphone. The pulse rate accuracy of the proposed system is 0.19±7.8 bpm after validating with a clinical used apparatus. In the future, the system can be integrated with sick beds for home caring and hospitalizing usages.
Publishing, Retrieving and Streaming Lectures via Application Level Multicast

Structured peer-to-peer overlay network is an efficient solution for querying and retrieving resources spread between the peers. Unfortunately, key based routing of Distributed Hash Tables is simple when keys are known in advance, and at the service level this connot be always assumed. In this paper1, we present DHTeach, an e-learning application built on a totally distributed overlay network, where the problem of key definition is solved using an ad hoc description language. Moreover, DHTeach lays on a multicast application layer that organizes peers in order to make them able to receive the multimedia stream concurrently from a set of partners participating the class. The overall architecture is fully integrated and interoperable.