Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A Novel Imaging Analysis Method for Capturing Pharyngeal Constriction During Swallowing

Videofluoroscopic imaging of swallowing known as the Modified Barium Study (MBS) is the standard of care for assessing swallowing difficulty. While the clinical purpose of this radiographic imaging is to primarily assess aspiration risk, valuable biomechanical data is embedded in these studies. Computational analysis of swallowing mechanics (CASM) is an established research methodology for assessing multiple interactions of swallowing mechanics based on coordinates mapping muscle function including hyolaryngeal movement, pharyngeal shortening, tongue base retraction, and extension of the head and neck, however coordinates characterizing pharyngeal constriction is undeveloped. The aim of this study was to establish a method for locating the superior and middle pharyngeal constrictors using hard landmarks as guides on MBS videofluoroscopic imaging, and to test the reliability of this new method. Twenty de-identified, normal, MBS videos were randomly selected from a database. Two raters annotated landmarks for the superior and middle pharyngeal constrictors frame-by-frame using a semi-automated MATLAB tracker tool at two time points. Intraclass correlation coefficients were used to assess test-retest reliability between two raters with an ICC = 0.99 or greater for all coordinates for the retest measurement. MorphoJ integrated software was used to perform a discriminate function analysis to visualize how all 12 coordinates interact with each other in normal swallowing. The addition of the superior and middle pharyngeal constrictor coordinates to CASM allows for a robust analysis of the multiple components of swallowing mechanics interacting with a wide range of variables in both patient specific and cohort studies derived from common use imaging data.
Design, evaluation and analysis of combinatorial optimization heuristic algorithms

Combinatorial optimization is widely applied in a number of areas nowadays. Unfortunately, many combinatorial optimization problems are NP-hard which usually means that they are unsolvable in practice. However, it is often unnecessary to have an exact solution. In this case one may use heuristic approach to obtain a near-optimal solution in some reasonable time. We focus on two combinatorial optimization problems, namely the Generalized Traveling Salesman Problem and the Multidimensional Assignment Problem. The first problem is an important generalization of the Traveling Salesman Problem; the second one is a generalization of the Assignment Problem for an arbitrary number of dimensions. Both problems are NP-hard and have hosts of applications. In this work, we discuss different aspects of heuristics design and evaluation. A broad spectrum of related subjects, covered in this research, includes test bed generation and analysis, implementation and performance issues, local search neighborhoods and efficient exploration algorithms, metaheuristics design and population sizing in memetic algorithm. The most important results are obtained in the areas of local search and memetic algorithms for the considered problems. In both cases we have significantly advanced the existing knowledge on the local search neighborhoods and algorithms by systematizing and improving the previous results. We have proposed a number of efficient heuristics which dominate the existing algorithms in a wide range of time/quality requirements. Several new approaches, introduced in our memetic algorithms, make them the state-of-the-art metaheuristics for the corresponding problems. Population sizing is one of the most promising among these approaches; it is expected to be applicable to virtually any memetic algorithm.
Adaptive Tolerance of CD4+ T Cells In Vivo: Multiple Thresholds in Response to a Constant Level of Antigen Presentation

The in vivo T cell response to persistent Ag contains a hyporesponsive phase following an initial expansion and subsequent partial deletion of the responding cells. The mechanism(s) responsible for this tolerance process is poorly understood. In this study, we describe a new paired transgenic model (TCR and Ag), which within 7–14 days produces 20–40 million hyporesponsive T cells. This state is characterized by an 85–95% reduction in all cytokine production, an impairment of re-expression of CD25 and CD69, and a desensitization of the proliferative response to Ag. TCR levels were normal, and in vivo mixing experiments showed no evidence for active suppression. The hyporesponsiveness partially dissipated without proliferation when the cells were transferred into a non-Ag-bearing host. If the second host expressed Ag, the T cells initially regained responsiveness, but then slowly entered an even deeper state of tolerance characterized by an additional 7- to 10-fold lowering of cytokine production and a greater desensitization of proliferation. Surprisingly, this readaptation took place with the same level of Ag presentation, suggesting that other parameters can influence the tolerance threshold. Both the readjustment in sensitivity and the reversal without Ag convincingly demonstrate for the first time a truly adaptive tolerance process in CD4+ T cells in vivo.
Risk Factors for Acquiring Functional and Cognitive Disabilities During Admission to a PICU*

Objective: To describe the risk factors for acquiring functional or cognitive disabilities during admission to a PICU. Design: Retrospective analysis of a multicenter PICU database. Setting: Twenty-four PICUs in the Virtual PICU Performance System network from January 1, 2009, through December 31, 2010. Patients: Consecutive patients, who are 1 month to 18 years old, who survived to discharge. Interventions: None. Measurements and Main Results: Primary outcomes were acquired global functional disability and cognitive disability during admission to a PICU, measured by change in Pediatric Overall Performance Category or in Pediatric Cerebral Performance Category scores, respectively. The primary analysis cohort consisted of 29,352 admissions to the 24 Virtual PICU Performance System sites which collected the main outcome variables. Respectively, 10.3% and 3.4% of the cohort acquired global functional or cognitive disability. Trauma diagnosis (odds ratio, 4.50; 95% CI, 3.83–5.29; odds ratio, 3.91; 95% CI, 3.07–4.98), unscheduled admission to the PICU (odds ratio, 2.67; 95% CI, 2.27–3.12; odds ratio, 1.52; 95% CI, 1.16–2.00), highest risk of mortality category (odds ratio, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.02–1.39; odds ratio, 2.70; 95% CI, 2.15–3.40), oncologic primary diagnoses (odds ratio, 5.61; 95% CI, 4.56–6.91; odds ratio, 4.30; 95% CI, 2.97–6.24), and neurologic primary diagnoses (odds ratio, 2.04, 95% CI, 1.70–2.44; odds ratio, 4.29, 95% CI, 3.18–5.78) were independently associated with acquiring both functional and cognitive disability. Intervention risk factors for acquiring both functional and cognitive disability included invasive mechanical ventilation (odds ratio, 1.79; 95% CI, 1.60–2.00; odds ratio, 2.83; 95% CI, 2.36–3.39), renal replacement therapy (odds ratio, 2.43; 95% CI, 1.73–3.42; odds ratio, 1.76, 95% CI, 1.08–2.85), cardiopulmonary resuscitation (odds ratio, 1.91; 95% CI, 1.24–2.95; odds ratio, 1.81; 95% CI, 1.02–3.23), and extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (odds ratio, 7.40, 95% CI, 4.10–13.36; odds ratio, 14.04, 95% CI, 7.51–26.26). Conclusions: We identified a subset of patients whose potential for acquiring global functional and cognitive disability during admission to the PICU is high. This population may benefit from interventions that could mitigate this risk and from focused follow-up after discharge from the PICU.
Auditing Social Science and Humanities Journals: The View of an Editor in a Malaysian Research University

It is common practice for a university to have many journals located within different schools and faculties in order to help young researchers publish their work and gain confidence in their writing abilities. The focus of this paper is with the journals that are not listed in databases and cater only to academics within a school to serve as an avenue for publication. When the National University of Malaysia was accorded research university status recently, publications and research became an important indicator of the performance of the university. This led to a new demand for publications in indexed journals and for increasing citations. Hence, it was timely to conduct an ‘in-house evaluation’ of journals within the university, focusing particularly on the social sciences and humanities journals. An evaluation was conducted using the basic criteria for journals included in the database Scopus, and measures were then proposed to improve the journals. This exercise was meant to help the journals that had a long publishing history to rise to the challenges of being scholarly journals in an era of competitiveness, databases and indexes.
Recovering edges in ill-posed inverse problems: optimality of curvelet frames

We consider a model problem of recovering a function $f(x_1,x_2)$ from noisy Radon data. The function $f$ to be recovered is assumed smooth apart from a discontinuity along a $C^2$ curve, that is, an edge. We use the continuum white-noise model, with noise level $\varepsilon$. Traditional linear methods for solving such inverse problems behave poorly in the presence of edges. Qualitatively, the reconstructions are blurred near the edges; quantitatively, they give in our model mean squared errors (MSEs) that tend to zero with noise level $\varepsilon$ only as $O(\varepsilon^{1/2})$ as $\varepsilon\to 0$. A recent innovation--nonlinear shrinkage in the wavelet domain--visually improves edge sharpness and improves MSE convergence to $O(\varepsilon^{2/3})$. However, as we show here, this rate is not optimal. In fact, essentially optimal performance is obtained by deploying the recently-introduced tight frames of curvelets in this setting. Curvelets are smooth, highly anisotropic elements ideally suited for detecting and synthesizing curved edges. To deploy them in the Radon setting, we construct a curvelet-based biorthogonal decomposition of the Radon operator and build "curvelet shrinkage" estimators based on thresholding of the noisy curvelet coefficients. In effect, the estimator detects edges at certain locations and orientations in the Radon domain and automatically synthesizes edges at corresponding locations and directions in the original domain. We prove that the curvelet shrinkage can be tuned so that the estimator will attain, within logarithmic factors, the MSE $O(\varepsilon^{4/5})$ as noise level $\varepsilon\to 0$. This rate of convergence holds uniformly over a class of functions which are $C^2$ except for discontinuities along $C^2$ curves, and (except for log terms) is the minimax rate for that class. Our approach is an instance of a general strategy which should apply in other inverse problems; we sketch a deconvolution example.
Severe neuropsychiatric outcomes following discontinuation of long-term glucocorticoid therapy: a cohort study.

BACKGROUND It has been estimated that, at any point in time, about 1% of the general adult population of the United Kingdom is receiving long-term (ie, ≥ 3 months) oral glucocorticoid therapy. These patients may develop neuropsychiatric disorders when the drug is discontinued. METHOD Data were obtained for all adult patients registered from January 1, 1990, through December 31, 2008, at UK general practices that were contributors to The Health Improvement Network database. Data from 21,995 adult patients who had been exposed to long-term oral glucocorticoids and who had discontinued the drugs after an exposure ranging from 1 to 3 years were analyzed. The within-person incidence rate ratios (IRRs) for Read codes and/or prescriptions for depression, delirium/confusion, mania, panic disorders, and suicide or suicide attempt during the withdrawal period were estimated using a self-controlled case series methodology. The predictors of the outcomes were ascertained using Cox proportional hazards models. RESULTS The risk of depression (IRR = 1.13; 95% CI, 1.00-1.28; P = .04) and of delirium/confusion (IRR = 2.67; 95% CI, 1.96-3.63; P < .001) was significantly higher during the discontinuation period compared to a reference period defined as ranging from 5 to 3 months before the drug cessation. Older people were at higher risk of delirium/confusion. The use of long-acting glucocorticoids was associated with a higher risk of both depression (adjusted hazard ratio [HR] = 1.92; 95% CI, 1.07-3.46) and delirium/confusion (adjusted HR = 4.96; 95% CI, 2.60-9.49) during the withdrawal period. CONCLUSIONS Discontinuation of long-term glucocorticoid therapy is associated with an increased risk of both depression and delirium/confusion. People treated with long-acting glucocorticoids are particularly at risk.
Can Relaxing Security Policy Restrictiveness Improve User Behavior? A Field Study of Authentication Credential Usage

Often, security policies take an overly proscriptive approach designed to shape "secure" behavior in the specification of constraints, controls, and impediments to free action. In the case of very detailed policies, the user may not even understand the logic behind the behavior. This research poses a simple premise: if a desired state of system security can be achieved with a policy that affords the user a range of behavioral options, would the user be more likely to comply with the policy? We present findings from a field experiment in the context of password selection where secure behavior was enhanced by relaxing proscription (and prescription) by allowing universal cues in additional feedback tools to take precedence over explicit behavioral requirements. This is in keeping with aspects of Activity Theory which proposes that familiar tools influence actor-structure interactions that lead to desired outcomes.
Comparision between bupivacaine and ropivacaine in patients undergoing forearm surgeries under axillary brachial plexus block: a prospective randomized study.

CONTEXT Brachial plexus block is a suitable alternative to general anaesthesia for patient undergoing upper extremity surgery. Ropivacaine the S-enantiomer emerged as a possible replacement of Bupivacaine without undesirable toxic effects. It provides similar duration of sensory analgesia with early recovery of motor block. AIMS Comparision of onset, duration of sensory- motor block and any adverse effects between 0.5% Bupivacaine and 0.5% Ropivacaine in axillary brachial plexus block. SETTINGS AND DESIGN Prospective randomized study. MATERIALS AND METHODS This study was carried out in 50 patients between 18-55 y, comparable in demographic variables was randomly allocated to two groups of 25 each. Group I received 30ml 0.5% Bupivacaine, Group II received 30 ml 0.5% Ropivacaine in axillary brachial plexus block for forearm surgeries. Onset, Duration of sensory-motor block, Heart rate, Blood pressure, Oxygen saturation and Respiratory rate were recorded. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS Statistical analysis used was Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 15.0, Chi-square test was used to evaluate the proportional data. Odds ratio/risk ratios have been calculated wherever necessary. Parametric data has been evaluated using Student t-test while non-parametric data has been evaluated using Mann-Whitney U-test. RESULTS Onset of motor blockade was earlier in ropivacaine group (5 min) as compared to bupivacaine group (20 min), Higher levels of motor blockade, Mean onset time for motor block was significantly shorter in ropivacaine group (14.88±3.35 min) as compared to bupivacaine group (22.92±3.79 min), Mean duration of block was significantly longer in bupivacaine group (408.40±50.39 min) as compared to ropivacaine group (365.60±34.29 min) (p=0.001), Onset of sensory block was observed from 5 min itself in ropivacaine group as compared to bupivacaine group (10 min), Duration of sensory block was significantly longer in bupivacaine group (450.40±54.50 min) as compared to ropivacaine group (421.20±38.33 min) . CONCLUSION On the basis of present study, conclusions were drawn that onset of action of sensory, motor block was early in Ropivacaine group with faster recovery of motor functions as compared to Bupivacaine group. No adverse effects were noted in either groups. This study suggests that Ropivacaine is a suitable alternative to Bupivacaine for forearm surgeries under Brachial Plexus Block.
Social Support, Quality of Life, and University Programs for Seniors

In addition to educating and extending knowledge, university programs for seniors, at least the university program for seniors at the University of the Balearic Islands during the period analyzed, also fulfil physical and psychological health-related functions specifically related to our analysis of social support. This article reaches several conclusions on social support that reaffirm the idea of the role these university programs play in seniors' lives. Reducing these programs to a purely instructive approach would not only be a conceptual error, but would also overlook the effects and impacts they have on seniors' quality of life, regardless of the knowledge that may be acquired.
RNA Deep Sequencing Reveals Novel Candidate Genes and Polymorphisms in Boar Testis and Liver Tissues with Divergent Androstenone Levels

Boar taint is an unpleasant smell and taste of pork meat derived from some entire male pigs. The main causes of boar taint are the two compounds androstenone (5α-androst-16-en-3-one) and skatole (3-methylindole). It is crucial to understand the genetic mechanism of boar taint to select pigs for lower androstenone levels and thus reduce boar taint. The aim of the present study was to investigate transcriptome differences in boar testis and liver tissues with divergent androstenone levels using RNA deep sequencing (RNA-Seq). The total number of reads produced for each testis and liver sample ranged from 13,221,550 to 33,206,723 and 12,755,487 to 46,050,468, respectively. In testis samples 46 genes were differentially regulated whereas 25 genes showed differential expression in the liver. The fold change values ranged from −4.68 to 2.90 in testis samples and −2.86 to 3.89 in liver samples. Differentially regulated genes in high androstenone testis and liver samples were enriched in metabolic processes such as lipid metabolism, small molecule biochemistry and molecular transport. This study provides evidence for transcriptome profile and gene polymorphisms of boars with divergent androstenone level using RNA-Seq technology. Digital gene expression analysis identified candidate genes in flavin monooxygenease family, cytochrome P450 family and hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase family. Moreover, polymorphism and association analysis revealed mutation in IRG6, MX1, IFIT2, CYP7A1, FMO5 and KRT18 genes could be potential candidate markers for androstenone levels in boars. Further studies are required for proving the role of candidate genes to be used in genomic selection against boar taint in pig breeding programs.
Organizational Resistance and Change: The View from Below

This article presents an analytic framework for assessing certain elements of resistance to organizational change proposals emanating from low-power practitioners in social agencies where the changes sought must be approved by an administrative superior. The paper is based on the assumption that resistance to practitioner-initiated proposals is not a constant phenomenon but varies with the nature of the change suggested, the personal goals of the decision maker, the administrative distance between the practitioner and the decision maker, and the previous investment the organization has made in the arrangement to be modified. Each of these variables is discussed, and their implications for goal selection and organizational change strategies are presented.
Illusory and spurious correlations: distinct phenomena or joint outcomes of exemplar‐based category learning?

Stereotype formation about novel groups was analyzed with trivariate stimulus distributions that were generated by group membership, valence of behavior, and a context variable. Within this stimulus setting, we manipulated the confounding role of the context variable and the distinctiveness of events in terms of their relative infrequency. The experimental procedure allowed us to analyze illusory and spurious correlations in a joint framework, to conduct focused tests for memory effects of relative infrequency and to investigate the detection of covariations with the context variable. The results revealed that illusory and spurious correlations were formed without enhanced memory for infrequent events and with existing covariations of the confounding context factor being well extracted. These observations suggest that illusory and spurious correlations can be understood without assuming specific cognitive processes that are tied to the particular characteristics of a given stimulus distribution, such as enhanced memory in the case of relative infrequency and neglect of a context variable in the case of a confounding factor. Instead, computer simulations with an exemplar-based learning model demonstrated that exemplar-based category learning may provide a coherent and integrative theoretical framework for illusory correlations, spurious correlations and true contingency learning in social cognition. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
MDM2 SNP309 variation contributes to leukemia risk: meta-analyses based on 7259 subjects

Abstract Evidence implicates MDM2 (murine double minute-2) T309G polymorphism as a risk factor for several cancers. Increasing numbers of studies have been carried out on the association of MDM2 T309G polymorphism with susceptibility to leukemia and have generated conflicting results. The aim of the present study was to derive a more precise estimation of the relationship. Meta-analyses assessing the association of MDM2 T309G variation with leukemia were conducted. Separate analyses on ethnicity and clinical types were also performed. Eligible studies were identified for the period up to February 2012. Consequently, seven publications including eight case–control studies with 1777 cases and 5482 controls were selected for analysis. The overall data indicated a significant association of the MDM2 T309G polymorphism with leukemia risk (GG vs. TT: odds ratio [OR] = 1.62; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.14–2.29; dominant model: OR = 1.20; 95% CI = 1.06–1.36; recessive model: OR = 1.47; 95% CI = 1.07–2.03). In subgroup analysis by ethnicity, the G allele may increase leukemia susceptibility among Asians (GG vs. TT: OR = 3.06; 95% CI = 2.05–4.56; dominant model: OR = 1.82; 95% CI = 1.31–2.51; recessive model: OR = 2.32; 95% CI = 1.69–3.19) but not Caucasians. In subgroup analysis by clinical types, data suggested increased risk for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) under additive and recessive models, respectively. Similarly, elevated risk for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) was shown under the dominant model. Collectively, the results of the present study suggest that MDM2 T309G polymorphism might be a low-penetrant risk factor for leukemia among Asians but not Caucasians. The G allele might increase CLL susceptibility and homozygous GG might elevate AML and CML risk.