Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Statistical textural feature and deformable model based MR brain tumor segmentation

Segmentation of abnormalities is one of the main focus in medical image processing field for the purpose of diagnosis and treatment planning. The work put forth in this paper has proposed and implemented a semi-automatic technique that yields appropriate segmented regions from MR brain images. The Segmentation technique here utilizes fusion of information beyond human perception from MR images to develop a fused feature map. The information beyond human perception include second order derivatives that are computed from an image which are discussed in detail in relevant section of this paper. This obtained feature map acts as a stopping function for the initialized curve in the framework of an active contour model to obtain a well segmented region of interest. The results obtained from our segmentation method are compared with ground truth segmentation results obtained from experts manually using Jackard's Co-efficient of Similarity and Overlap index. The results obtained on various case studies like Craniophryngioma, High grade Glioma and Microadenoma show a good efficacy of the overall method.
Compact Keccak Hardware Architecture for Data Integrity and Authentication on FPGAs

ABSTRACT Cryptographic hash functions play a crucial role in networking and communication security, including their use for data integrity and message authentication. Keccak hash algorithm is one of the finalists in the next generation SHA-3 hash algorithm competition. It is based on the sponge construction whose hardware performance is worth investigation. We developed an efficient hardware architecture for the Keccak hash algorithm on Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA). Due to the serialization exploited in the proposed architecture, the area needed for its implementation is reduced significantly accompanied by higher efficiency rate. In addition, low latency is attained so that higher operating frequencies can be accessed. We use the coprocessor approach which exploits the use of RAM blocks that exist in most FPGA platforms. For this coprocessor, a new datapath structure allowing parallel execution of multiple instructions is designed. Implementation results prove that our Keccak coprocessor achieves high performance in a small area.
Low Level Constraints on Dynamic Contour Path Integration

Contour integration is a fundamental visual process. The constraints on integrating discrete contour elements and the associated neural mechanisms have typically been investigated using static contour paths. However, in our dynamic natural environment objects and scenes vary over space and time. With the aim of investigating the parameters affecting spatiotemporal contour path integration, we measured human contrast detection performance of a briefly presented foveal target embedded in dynamic collinear stimulus sequences (comprising five short ‘predictor’ bars appearing consecutively towards the fovea, followed by the ‘target’ bar) in four experiments. The data showed that participants' target detection performance was relatively unchanged when individual contour elements were separated by up to 2° spatial gap or 200 ms temporal gap. Randomising the luminance contrast or colour of the predictors, on the other hand, had similar detrimental effect on grouping dynamic contour path and subsequent target detection performance. Randomising the orientation of the predictors reduced target detection performance greater than introducing misalignment relative to the contour path. The results suggest that the visual system integrates dynamic path elements to bias target detection even when the continuity of path is disrupted in terms of spatial (2°), temporal (200 ms), colour (over 10 colours) and luminance (−25% to 25%) information. We discuss how the findings can be largely reconciled within the functioning of V1 horizontal connections.
Binaural Rendering for Enhanced 3D Audio Perception

Despite the recent advantages on multichannel audio coding and playback technologies, 3D audio positioning is frequently required to be performed over legacy stereo loudspeaker setups, due to certain application limitations and restrictions mainly presented in portable and low cost systems. In this work, a 3D audio platform is introduced which allows the real-time conversion of any stereo audio signal to a high-quality immersive audio stream using binaural technology. Due to a number of advanced binaural processing algorithms and features, the proposed conversion platform demonstrates perceptually improved 3D audio spatialization, rendering it suitable for implementing high-quality immersive audio applications.
Cyclin D‐1, Interleukin‐6, HER‐2/neu, Transforming Growth Factor Receptor‐II and Prediction of Relapse in Women with Early Stage, Hormone Receptor‐Positive Breast Cancer Treated with Tamoxifen

Abstract: We hypothesized that amplification or overexpression of HER‐2 (c‐erbB‐2), the Ki‐67 antigen (Mib1), cyclin D‐1 (CD1), interleukin‐6 (IL‐6), or the transforming growth factor beta II receptor, (TGFβRII), would predict relapse in women with early stage, estrogen (ER) and/or progesterone receptor (PR) positive breast cancer treated with tamoxifen. Conditional logistic regression models and a new novel analytic method––support vector machines (SVM) were used to assess the effect of multiple variables on treatment outcome. All patients had stage I–IIIa breast cancer (AJCC version 5). We paired 63 patients who were disease‐free on or after tamoxifen with 63 patients who had relapsed (total 126); both disease‐free and relapsed patients were matched by duration of tamoxifen therapy and time to recurrence. These 126 patients also served as the training set for SVM analysis and 18 other patients used as a validation set for SVM. In a multivariate analysis, larger tumor size, increasing extent of lymph node involvement, and poorer tumor grade were significant predictors of relapse. When HER‐2 or CD1 were added to the model both were borderline significant predictors of relapse. The SVM model, after including all of the clinical and marker variables in the 126 patients as a training set, correctly predicted relapse in 78% of the 18 patient validation samples. In this trial, HER‐2 and CD1 proved of borderline significance as predictive factors for recurrence on tamoxifen. An SVM model that included all clinical and biologic variables correctly predicted relapse in >75% of patients.
Influenza A virus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase: analysis of RNA synthesis in vitro

Influenza A virus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, purified from virion ribonucleoprotein particles and from which endogenous genomic RNA (vRNA) has been depleted by treatment with micrococcal nuclease, was used to study transcription initiation, elongation, and termination in vitro. Templates that contained either minus- or plus-sense influenza virus nucleoprotein minigenes with conserved 5' and 3' termini and the uridylate tract were constructed. The dinucleotide ApG and alfalfa mosaic virus RNA4 (AlMV4) were used as primers. ApG primed the synthesis of full-length positive-strand or cRNA products and shorter transcripts, depending upon the molar ratio between the nucleoprotein and the vRNA template. Sequence analysis of the ends of these transcripts demonstrated that the 5' termini of both transcripts and the 3' terminus of the full-length product were complementary to the 3' and 5' termini of the vRNA template, respectively, whereas the 3' terminus of the incomplete product corresponded to a sequence located 40 bases downstream from the 5' terminus of the template and was about 20 nucleotides downstream from the uridylate tract, which is the putative signal for polyadenylation. Binding of the cap structure of AlMV4 by the polymerase activated RNA synthesis by ligation-elongation of small genomic RNA fragments which were likely derived from a genome segment protected by the polymerase from micrococcal nuclease digestion. The sequence of these fragments mapped to a region 14 to 28 nucleotides upstream of the 3' terminus of the viral genome. Polymerase subunit involvement in transcription initiation with ApG or AlMV4 was characterized by studying the effect of purified polyclonal antisubunit immunoglobulins of the G class (IgGs) in transcription assays. These results showed that anti-PB2 IgG inhibited transcription initiation in both ApG- and AlMV4-primed reactions, whereas anti-PB1 antibodies also blocked transcription initiated with AlMV4. The differences observed in product size, product sequence, and differential inhibition by antisubunit IgGs are discussed. These observations would support the notion that the influenza virus RNA-dependent RNA polymerase undergoes a conformational change after the binding of the cap structure of host cell heterogeneous nuclear RNA by PB2, which then usually leads to endonucleolytic cleavage of the capped primer 13 nucleotides downstream from the cap.
αCP binding to a cytosine-rich subset of polypyrimidine tracts drives a novel pathway of cassette exon splicing in the mammalian transcriptome

Alternative splicing (AS) is a robust generator of mammalian transcriptome complexity. Splice site specification is controlled by interactions of cis-acting determinants on a transcript with specific RNA binding proteins. These interactions are frequently localized to the intronic U-rich polypyrimidine tracts (PPT) located 5′ to the majority of splice acceptor junctions. αCPs (also referred to as polyC-binding proteins (PCBPs) and hnRNPEs) comprise a subset of KH-domain proteins with high affinity and specificity for C-rich polypyrimidine motifs. Here, we demonstrate that αCPs promote the splicing of a defined subset of cassette exons via binding to a C-rich subset of polypyrimidine tracts located 5′ to the αCP-enhanced exonic segments. This enhancement of splice acceptor activity is linked to interactions of αCPs with the U2 snRNP complex and may be mediated by cooperative interactions with the canonical polypyrimidine tract binding protein, U2AF65. Analysis of αCP-targeted exons predicts a substantial impact on fundamental cell functions. These findings lead us to conclude that the αCPs play a direct and global role in modulating the splicing activity and inclusion of an array of cassette exons, thus driving a novel pathway of splice site regulation within the mammalian transcriptome.
Solution of multidimensional knapsack problems via cooperation of dynamic programming and branch and bound

This article presents an exact cooperative method for the solution of the multidimensional knapsack problem (MKP) which combines dynamic programming and branch and bound. Our method makes cooperate a dynamic programming heuristics based on surrogate relaxation and a branch and bound procedure. Our algorithm was tested for several randomly generated test sets and problems in the literature. Solution values of the first step are compared with optimal values and results provided by other well-known existing heuristics. Then, our exact cooperative method is compared with a classical branch and bound algorithm. [Received 8 October 2008; Revised 28 May 28 2009; Revised 10 December 2009; Accepted 11 December 2009]
Multi-lingual text generation and the Meaning-Text Theory

We describe multi-lingual text generation as an alternative to automatic translation in specified technical sublanguages, illustrating the notion with the implemented RAREAS-2 system for synthesizing marine weather forecasts in English and French. We then review the Meaning-Text Theory (MTT) of Mel'cuk et al. as we have applied it to text generation in the GOSSIP system for producing English reports about computer operating systems. The experience gained from these two systems suggests possible approaches to multi-lingual generation using MTT.
Notice of RetractionRubrics of some pharmaceutical skills

Introduction: Constructivism is a theory about how learners come to know. A constructivist learning environment is defined as a place where learners may work together and support each other as they use variety of tools and information resources in their guided pursuit of learning goals and problem-solving activities. Assessment strongly influences student's learning, including what they study, when they study, how much work they do and the approach they take to their learning. For this reason assessment in the context of constructivism theory is based on performance “performance-based assessment”. Assessment tasks may not be assessing what we think they are assessing, they may be assessing lower-level understanding of the material, and may be failing to assess the stated outcomes of a program of study. To overcome this problem and enhance the quality of assessment, student-centered theory with formative assessment shoulb imployed. One of the most important needed parameters for performance-based assessment is Rubrics. This paper addresses detailed description of the performance tasks of some pharmaceutical skills and rubrics for evaluation of these performance skills. Methods and Results: Three pharmaceutical skills are subdivided into many small tasks. For each task a thorough description of the task and the rubrics for evaluation were performed with defining standards of the assessment. The results are a complete list of chopped pharmaceutical skills with well defined rubrics and standards of evaluation ready to be applied whenever constructivism theory is applied to pharmacy education. Conclusion: It is mandatory to reconsider the way we teach our students. Performance-based assessment is a tool that greatly assesses what students learn and ready to perform. This is a definite way of improving quality of pharmacist graduation.
Building Hierarchical Classifiers Using Class Proximity

In this paper, we address the need to automatically classify text documents into topic hierarchies like those in ACM Digital Library and Yahoo! The existing local approach constructs a classi er at each split of the topic hierarchy. However, the local approach does not address the closeness of classi cation in hierarchical classi cation where the concern often is how close a classi cation is, rather than simply correct or wrong. Also, the local approach puts its bet on classi cation at higher levels where the classi cation structure often diminishes. To address these issues, we propose the notion of class proximity and cast the hierarchical classi cation as a at classi cation with the class proximity modeling the closeness of classes. Our approach is global in that it constructs a single classi er based on the global informationabout all classes and class proximity. We leverage generalized association rules as the rule/feature space to address several other issues in hierarchical classi cation.
State-of-the-art robotic devices for ankle rehabilitation: Mechanism and control review

There is an increasing research interest in exploring use of robotic devices for the physical therapy of patients suffering from stroke and spinal cord injuries. Rehabilitation of patients suffering from ankle joint dysfunctions such as drop foot is vital and therefore has called for the development of newer robotic devices. Several robotic orthoses and parallel ankle robots have been developed during the last two decades to augment the conventional ankle physical therapy of patients. A comprehensive review of these robotic ankle rehabilitation devices is presented in this article. Recent developments in the mechanism design, actuation and control are discussed. The study encompasses robotic devices for treadmill and over-ground training as well as platform-based parallel ankle robots. Control strategies for these robotic devices are deliberated in detail with an emphasis on the assist-as-needed training strategies. Experimental evaluations of the mechanism designs and various control strategies of these robotic ankle rehabilitation devices are also presented.
Next Generation Sequencing Panel for Cerebellar Hypoplasia

Pontocerebellar Hypoplasia Pontocerebellar hypoplasia (PCH) is a group of rare autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disorders with a prenatal onset, characterized by cerebellar hypoplasia in addition to varying degrees of atrophy of the cerebellum and pons [1]. MRI findings include a small cerebellum and brainstem, variable neocortical atrophy, severe and progressive microcephaly and variable ventriculomegaly [1]. Clinically, most patients have severe intellectual disability, swallowing problems, and seizures.
Climate Change, Economic Analysis and Sustainable Development

This paper discusses the limitations, omissions and value judgements of the application of conventional economic analysis in the evaluation of climate change mitigation policies. It is argued that these have biased the result of the assessment models towards the recommendation of less aggressive mitigation strategies. Consequently, this paper questions whether they provide appropriate policy recommendations. The unequal distribution of rights implicitly assumed in conventional economic analyses applied to climate change is questioned and an alternative approach considering a distribution of rights consistent with sustainable development is put forward. Finally, the points that an analysis consistent with sustainable development should take into account are presented.
Direct correlation between the facial nerve nucleus and hemifacial seizures associated with a gangliocytoma of the floor of the fourth ventricle: A case report

A dysplastic neuronal lesion of the floor of the fourth ventricle (DNFFV) causes hemifacial seizures (HFS) from early infancy. However, it is still controversial whether HFS is generated by the facial nerve nucleus or cerebellar cortex. In this study, we confirm a direct correlation between the rhythmic activities in the DNFFV and HFS using intraoperative electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyography (EMG) monitoring. Our results support the theory that a DNFFV provokes ipsilateral HFS via the facial nerve nucleus.
Rorschach Sistema Compreensivo na avaliação de psicoterapia psicodinâmica

The proposal aimed to evaluate changes due to psychoanalytic psychotherapy on individuals assisted in a university clinic. Thus, 68 adult subjects, both genders, were evaluated before and after one year of psychotherapy. The Rorschach Comprehensive System protocols were analyzed according to their level of complexity, half on “low” [R/+F0] and half on “high” [R0+F/]. Significant statistical differences were found for (a) increase in “low” complexity group and decrease in ‘high’ complexity group on: R; EA; es; SumY; SumShd; FC+CF+C; CF+C; M; active; FD; H+(H)+Hd+(Hd); H pure, DEPI, (b) decrease in “low” and increase in “high” on Lambda and F pure . A confluence of these results was observed; the “high” complexity group showing less turbulence of their emotions, and the “low” complexity group displaying openness to experiences, even if of a more discomforting kind. The therapy proved to be beneficial to the individuals.
The effect of different restoration techniques on the fracture resistance of endodontically-treated molars.

AIM This study compared the fracture resistance of endodontically-treated mandibular molars with mesio-occluso-distal (MOD) cavities restored using different restoration techniques. METHODOLOGY Sixty sound extracted mandibular molars were randomly assigned to six groups (n=10). Group 1 did not receive any preparation. The teeth in Groups 2-6 received root canal treatment and a MOD cavity preparation. The teeth in Group 2 were kept unrestored. Group 3 was restored conventionally with amalgam. Group 4 was restored with a dentin bonding system (DBS, Clearfil SE Bond) and resin composite (CR) (Clearfil Photoposterior). Group 5 was restored with indirect hybrid ceramic inlay material (Estenia). In Group 6, polyethylene ribbon fiber (Ribbond) was inserted into cavities in a buccal-to-lingual direction and the teeth were then restored with DBS and CR. After finishing and polishing, the specimens, except for Group 2, were loaded to failure by a chewing simulation device (60,000 cycles x 50 N load, 1.3 Hz frequency) in an artificial environment at 37 degrees C. Each tooth was subjected to compressive loading perpendicular to the occlusal surface at a crosshead speed of 1 mm/minute. The mean loads necessary to fracture were recorded in Newtons and the results were statistically analyzed. RESULTS The mean fracture values were as follows: Group 1: 2485.3 +/- 193.98a, Group 2: 533.9 +/- 59.4a, Group 3: 1705.8 +/- 135.7a, Group 4: 2033.3 +/- 137.6cd, Group 5: 2121.3 +/- 156.5d, Group 6: 1908.9 +/- 132.2cd. There were statistically significant differences between the groups annotated with different letters. Thus, Group 1 (intact teeth) had the greatest fracture resistance and Group 2 (non-restored teeth) the poorest. No statistically significant differences were found between Groups 3 (amalgam), 4 (resin composite) and 6 (polyethylene ribbon fiber reinforced composite) (p > 0.05). Group 5 (indirect hybrid ceramic inlay) had greater fracture resistance than Group 3 (p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Within the limitations of this study, although all of the restoration groups were stronger than the prepared-only group, none of the restoration techniques tested was able to completely restore the fracture resistance lost from MOD cavity preparation. However, use of indirect hybrid inlay restorations in these teeth may be recommended, because this restoration technique indicated more favorable fracture failure modes than other restoration techniques used in this study and particularly greater fracture strength than amalgam restorations. The promising result of indirect hybrid inlay restorations may need to be confirmed by long-term clinical studies.
Expectations and Attributions Regarding Extramarital Sex Among Young Married Individuals

Abstract Limited research suggests that beliefs regarding the interrelationship of sex, love, and marriage may be predictive of attributions concerning extramarital sex (EMS). We explored these issues through face-to-face interviews with a sample of 45 young married adults. Strong expectations of monogamy were pervasive in the current sample, as were a core set of attributions regarding EMS. Marital dissatisfaction, or problems in the marriage, were most often seen as the source of spousal EMS, and these reasons were viewed as the most upsetting to the respondents. The least upsetting circumstance surrounding spousal EMS was sexual activity without emotional involvement, or the typical “one-night stand. ” Estimates of the likelihood that spousal EMS would cause harm to the marriage were large. The degree to which respondents associated sex, love, and marriage was negatively related to the likelihood that the respondent believed either spouse would engage in EMS or that such activity would ever be acceptabl.
The effect of biotechnology education on Australian high school students’ understandings and attitudes about biotechnology processes

Our education system aims to equip young people with the knowledge, problem‐solving skills and values to cope with an increasingly technological society. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of biotechnology education on adolescents’ understanding and attitudes about processes associated with biotechnology. Data were drawn from teacher and student interviews and surveys in the context of innovative Year 10 biotechnology courses conducted in three Western Australian high schools. The results indicate that after completing a biotechnology course students’ understanding increased but their attitudes remained constant with the exception of their views about human uses of gene technology. The findings of this study have ramifications for the design and implementation of biotechnology education courses in high schools.