Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Growth of the Deviated Septum and Its Influence on Midfacial Development

The influence of the healthy or deviated human nasal septum on the growth of the nasomaxillary complex is controversial and has been discussed for more than 100 years. Knowledge of the effects of surgical interventions on the growing septum is of practical value to find out the proper time for rhino-surgery without adding more damage to the cranio-facial skeleton. Even from more recent reviews,2,3 no definitive information can be gained concerning the role of the septal cartilage as a primary growth center of major importance for midface development. In order to draw any meaningful conclusion regarding midfacial growth, prospective well-controlled studies are required. These studies have to include otorhinolaryngologic and orthodontic data, obtained by endoscopy, longitudinal series of lateral cephalo-metric radiographs, dental casts, photographs under standard conditions, and documents about family members. These data have only just become available for any group of these patients. Furthermore, there are principal limitations to drawing conclusions from the patients' data, which is explained by the following observation: When we examine, for instance, 17-year-old adolescents who underwent septoplasty at the age of 8, we investigate a nasomaxillary complex that has been influenced by a series of intrinsic and extrinsic factors, the modes of action of which are poorly understood. Thus, we are investigating not only the long-term effect of surgery, but also the late effects of the early trauma and infection, racial and hereditary influences, hormonal and nutritive conditions, to name only a few. It is impossible to separate the effects of these various factors when analyzing the nasal structures at follow-up. Since we usually do not know the exact history of midfacial trauma, especially whether the injury damaged only the nose, or only the maxilla, or both, we cannot evaluate the interrelationship of nasal and maxillary growth in most of our patients with an injured nasomaxillary complex. Therefore we have to refer to
Perceptual multiview video coding using synthesized Just Noticeable Distortion maps

In this paper, a perceptual multiview video coding scheme is proposed, based on the synthesized Just Noticeable Distortion (JND) maps. In JND-based perceptual video coding, the residues after intra or inter prediction are tuned according to the corresponding JND thresholds to save the bits without affecting the perceptual quality. In our scheme, to reduce the computational cost of generating the multiview JND maps, only the JND maps of some anchor views are calculated directly. These maps are then used to synthesize the JND maps of other views via the block-based Depth Image Based Rendering (DIBR) method, which can be more than 30 times faster than direct computation with reasonable error. Experimental results show that the proposed scheme can improve the perceptual performance of the JMVC by more than 1 dB in terms of the Peak Signal Perceptual Noise Ratio (PSPNR).
Induction of Robust Type-I CD8+ T-cell Responses in WHO Grade 2 Low-Grade Glioma Patients Receiving Peptide-Based Vaccines in Combination with Poly-ICLC

Purpose: WHO grade 2 low-grade gliomas (LGG) with high risk factors for recurrence are mostly lethal despite current treatments. We conducted a phase I study to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of subcutaneous vaccinations with synthetic peptides for glioma-associated antigen (GAA) epitopes in HLA-A2+ adults with high-risk LGGs in the following three cohorts: (i) patients without prior progression, chemotherapy, or radiotherapy (RT); (ii) patients without prior progression or chemotherapy but with prior RT; and (iii) recurrent patients. Experimental Design: GAAs were IL13Rα2, EphA2, WT1, and Survivin. Synthetic peptides were emulsified in Montanide-ISA-51 and given every 3 weeks for eight courses with intramuscular injections of poly-ICLC, followed by q12 week booster vaccines. Results: Cohorts 1, 2, and 3 enrolled 12, 1, and 10 patients, respectively. No regimen-limiting toxicity was encountered except for one case with grade 3 fever, fatigue, and mood disturbance (cohort 1). ELISPOT assays demonstrated robust IFNγ responses against at least three of the four GAA epitopes in 10 and 4 cases of cohorts 1 and 3, respectively. Cohort 1 patients demonstrated significantly higher IFNγ responses than cohort 3 patients. Median progression-free survival (PFS) periods since the first vaccine are 17 months in cohort 1 (range, 10–47+) and 12 months in cohort 3 (range, 3–41+). The only patient with large astrocytoma in cohort 2 has been progression-free for more than 67 months since diagnosis. Conclusion: The current regimen is well tolerated and induces robust GAA-specific responses in WHO grade 2 glioma patients. These results warrant further evaluations of this approach. Clin Cancer Res; 21(2); 286–94. ©2014 AACR.
POSFET Based Tactile Sensor Arrays

In this paper, we present POSFET (piezoelectric-oxide-FET) based tactile sensing arrays. The equivalent model of a POSFET and its SPICE implementation is presented and various factors involved in the design of POSFET are discussed. A 5 x 5 array of POSFET tactile elements designed on the basis of discussion is also presented.
Differential Involvement of Mrp2 (Abcc2) and Bcrp (Abcg2) in Biliary Excretion of 4-Methylumbelliferyl Glucuronide and Sulfate in the Rat

The hepatic excretion of hydrophilic conjugates, end products of phase II metabolism, is not completely understood. In the present studies, transport mechanism(s) responsible for the biliary excretion of 4-methylumbelliferyl glucuronide (4MUG) and 4-methylumbelliferyl sulfate (4MUS) were studied. Isolated perfused livers (IPLs) from Mrp2-deficient (TR-) Wistar rats were used to examine the role of Mrp2 in the biliary excretion of 4MUG and 4MUS. After a 30-μmol dose of 4-methylumbelliferone, cumulative biliary excretion of 4MUG was extensive in wild-type rat IPLs (25 ± 3 μmol) but was negligible in TR- livers (0.4 ± 0.1 μmol); coadministration of the Bcrp and P-glycoprotein inhibitor GF120918 [N-(4-[2-(1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-6,7-dimethoxy-2-isoquinolinyl)ethyl]-phenyl)-9,10-dihydro-5-methoxy-9-oxo-4-acridine carboxamide] had no effect on 4MUG biliary excretion in wild-type rat IPLs. In contrast, biliary excretion of 4MUS was partially maintained in Mrp2-deficient rat IPLs. Recovery of 4MUS in bile was ∼50 to 60% lower in both control TR- (149 ± 8 nmol) and wild-type IPLs with GF120918 coadministration (176 ± 30 nmol) relative to wild-type control livers (378 ± 37 nmol) and was nearly abolished in TR- IPLs in the presence of GF120918 (13 ± 8 nmol). These changes were the result of decreased rate constants governing 4MUG and 4MUS biliary excretion. In vitro assays and perfused livers from Bcrp and P-glycoprotein gene-knockout mice indicated that 4MUS did not interact with P-glycoprotein but was transported by Bcrp in a GF120918-sensitive manner. In the rat liver, Mrp2 mediates the biliary excretion of 4MUG, whereas both Mrp2 and Bcrp contribute almost equally to the transport of 4MUS into bile.
Poststroke Fatigue: Who Is at Risk for an Increase in Fatigue?

Background. Several studies have examined determinants related to post-stroke fatigue. However, it is unclear which determinants can predict an increase in poststroke fatigue over time. Aim. This prospective cohort study aimed to identify determinants which predict an increase in post-stroke fatigue. Methods. A total of 250 patients with stroke were examined at inpatient rehabilitation discharge (T0) and 24 weeks later (T1). Fatigue was measured using the Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS). An increase in post-stroke fatigue was defined as an increase in the FSS score beyond the 95% limits of the standard error of measurement of the FSS (i.e., 1.41 points) between T0 and T1. Candidate determinants included personal factors, stroke characteristics, physical, cognitive, and emotional functions, and activities and participation and were assessed at T0. Factors predicting an increase in fatigue were identified using forward multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results. The only independent predictor of an increase in post-stroke fatigue was FSS (OR 0.50; 0.38–0.64, P < 0.001). The model including FSS at baseline correctly predicted 7.9% of the patients who showed increased fatigue at T1. Conclusion. The prognostic model to predict an increase in fatigue after stroke has limited predictive value, but baseline fatigue is the most important independent predictor. Overall, fatigue levels remained stable over time.
Weighted model-based optoacoustic reconstruction in acoustic scattering media

Model-based optoacoustic inversion methods are capable of eliminating image artefacts associated with the widely adopted back-projection reconstruction algorithms. Yet, significant image artefacts might also occur due to reflections and scattering of optoacoustically-induced waves from strongly acoustically-mismatched areas in tissues. Herein, we modify the model-based reconstruction methodology to incorporate statistically-based weighting in order to minimize these artefacts. The method is compared with another weighting procedure termed half-image reconstruction, yielding generally better results. The statistically-based weighting is subsequently verified experimentally, attaining quality improvement of the optoacoustic image reconstructions in the presence of acoustic mismatches in tissue phantoms and small animals ex-vivo.
Radial distortion correction from a single image of a planar calibration pattern using convex optimization

In Hartley-Kang's paper [7], they directly treated a planar calibration pattern as an image to construct an image pair together with a radial distorted image of the planar calibration pattern, and then proposed a very efficient method to determine the center of radial distortion by estimating the epipole in the radial distorted image. After determined the center of radial distortion, a least square method was utilized to recover the radial distortion function using the monotonicity constraints. In this paper, we present a convex optimization method to recover the radial distortion function using the same constraints as those required by Hartley-Kang's method, whereas our method can obtain better results of radial distortion correction. The experiments validate our approach.
Robust OP Amp Realization of Chua's Circuit

Chua's circuit is a simple electronic network which exhibits a variety of bifurcation phenomena and attractors. The circuit consists of two capacitors, an inductor, a linear resistor, and a nonlinear resistor. This paper describes the design methodology for a robust practical op amp implementation of Chua's circuit. In addition, we present experimental results and SPICE simulations for a working circuit using o -the-shelf components.
Component rank: relative significance rank for software component search

Collections of already developed programs are important resources for efficient development of reliable software systems. In this paper, we propose a novel method of ranking software components, called Component Rank, based on analyzing actual use relations among the components and propagating the significance through the use relations. We have developed a component-rank computation system, and applied it to various Java programs. The result is promising such that non-specific and generic components are ranked high. Using the Component Rank system as a core part, we are currently developing Software Product Archiving, analyzing, and Retrieving System named SPARS.
Distributed Signal Estimation Using Binary Sensors with Multiple Thresholds

Abstract-Estimating an unknown parameter using a sensor network has been considered when the fusion center receives only one bit from each sensor. The network is divided to a number of groups and all sensors in a group use a fixed and equal threshold for quantization. A combined weighted estimation structure has been proposed. At the fusion center weights are assigned to each group of sensors based on their quantized bit entropy. The results have been presented and compared to maximum likelihood estimator (MLE), which had been proposed for the same scenario. The simulation results show that the proposed method has identical performance for large number of sensors and reaches Cramer-Rao lower bound(CRLB), while it outperforms MLE for limited number of sensors and when the distance between quantization levels increases. Moreover the proposed method has very low complexity compared to MLE. It is also considerably faster than MLE, which makes it more suitable for wireless sensor networks.
Familial hyperlipidemia in stroke in the young.

Serum cholesterol, low density lipoproteins (LDL), very low density lipoproteins (VLDL) and chylomicron levels were studied in 25 young patients (age 40 years or less) of non-embolic ischemic stroke of unknown aetiology. Fifteen patients were males and 10 were females. The prevalence of hyperlipidemia was found to be 60%. Frederickson's type IIb hyperlipoproteinemia was the commonest (32%) abnormal pattern observed, followed by type IIa (12%), type IV (12%) and type V (4%). Family studies were carried out in all the 25 index patients (15 hyperlipidemic and 10 normolipidemic). Familial hyperlipidemia (i.e. 2 or more hyperlipidemic members in the same family) was found in 9 of the 15 hyperlipidemic index patients and in none of the normolipidemic index patients. The common pattern was found to be that of familial combined hyperlipidemia. The study indicates that screening the family members of hyperlipidemic young patients of non-embolic ischemic stroke may delineate a group of high risk individuals for possible primary prevention before they develop the disease.
Deletion of a conserved regulatory element required for Hmx1 expression in craniofacial mesenchyme in the dumbo rat: a newly identified cause of congenital ear malformation

SUMMARY Hmx1 is a homeodomain transcription factor expressed in the developing eye, peripheral ganglia, and branchial arches of avian and mammalian embryos. Recent studies have identified a loss-of-function allele at the HMX1 locus as the causative mutation in the oculo-auricular syndrome (OAS) in humans, characterized by ear and eye malformations. The mouse dumbo (dmbo) mutation, with similar effects on ear and eye development, also results from a loss-of-function mutation in the Hmx1 gene. A recessive dmbo mutation causing ear malformation in rats has been mapped to the chromosomal region containing the Hmx1 gene, but the nature of the causative allele is unknown. Here we show that dumbo rats and mice exhibit similar neonatal ear and eye phenotypes. In midgestation embryos, dumbo rats show a specific loss of Hmx1 expression in neural-crest-derived craniofacial mesenchyme (CM), whereas Hmx1 is expressed normally in retinal progenitors, sensory ganglia and in CM, which is derived from mesoderm. High-throughput resequencing of 1 Mb of rat chromosome 14 from dmbo/dmbo rats, encompassing the Hmx1 locus, reveals numerous divergences from the rat genomic reference sequence, but no coding changes in Hmx1. Fine genetic mapping narrows the dmbo critical region to an interval of ∼410 kb immediately downstream of the Hmx1 transcription unit. Further sequence analysis of this region reveals a 5777-bp deletion located ∼80 kb downstream in dmbo/dmbo rats that is not apparent in 137 other rat strains. The dmbo deletion region contains a highly conserved domain of ∼500 bp, which is a candidate distal enhancer and which exhibits a similar relationship to Hmx genes in all vertebrate species for which data are available. We conclude that the rat dumbo phenotype is likely to result from loss of function of an ultraconserved enhancer specifically regulating Hmx1 expression in neural-crest-derived CM. Dysregulation of Hmx1 expression is thus a candidate mechanism for congenital ear malformation, most cases of which remain unexplained.
Melt spinning of thermotropic liquid-crystal polyesters to form ultrahigh-modulus filaments

The properties and structure of ultrahigh-modulus filaments were investigated for wholly aromatic copolyesters (WACPs) containing 60 and 70 mol% p-oxybenzoate, based on p-hydroxybenzoic acid, p,p′-biphenol, terephthalic acid, and isophthalic acid and for poly(ethylene terephthalate co-p-oxybenzoate) containing 60 mol% p-oxybenzoate. As-spun filaments with varying degrees of molecular orientation were spun from melts by taking the spin-extension ratio as a variable at given temperatures. The as-spun filaments were further subjected to thermal annealing. Changes in the structural ordering with the extension ratio were monitored by wide-angle x-ray scattering, scanning electron microscopy, viscoelastic properties, and measurements of the thermal expansion coefficient. The increase in modulus is correlated well with the crystallite orientation at a relatively low extension ratio. However, for extension ratios above 10, the modulus of as-spun filaments is almost independent of the crystallite orientation. Modulus values as high as 100 GPa are obtained for WACP filaments spun at extension ratios above 500. It is suggested that ultrahigh-modulus values can be reached in highly oriented noncrystalline chains. Furthermore, the results for annealed filaments indicated that the relaxation of molecular orientation occurs partially in the oriented noncrystalline regions during the stage of long-time annealing above Tg, leading to depression of the modulus.
Sexual and relationship satisfaction and vestibular pain sensitivity among women with provoked vestibulodynia.

INTRODUCTION Provoked vestibulodynia (PVD) is a common cause of painful intercourse. Despite the fact that PVD is associated with high levels of pain and negative impact on women's sexuality, research has not examined associations between affected women's pain sensitivity and their sexual and relationship satisfaction. AIMS This study aimed to examine sexual and relationship functioning/satisfaction and vestibular pain sensitivity among PVD-affected women, and potential associations between these variables. METHODS Participants were 17 women with PVD and 17 matched controls. Women were assessed via a gynecological examination, structured interview, and the Female Sexual Function Index (FSFI), Golombok Rust Inventory of Sexual Satisfaction (GRISS), and Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS). Additionally, women completed a quantitative sensory testing session to assess vestibular pain thresholds and associated pain ratings; specifically, vestibular pressure-pain and heat pain thresholds were measured. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Gynecological and intercourse pain ratings; FSFI; GRISS; DAS; vestibular pressure-pain threshold; and vestibular heat pain thresholds. RESULTS PVD-affected women reported significantly decreased sexual function in comparison with controls. While no differences in relationship satisfaction were found between groups, women with PVD did report less sexual satisfaction on the FSFI. PVD-affected women also reported significantly higher vestibular pain ratings associated with the gynecological examination and heat pain tolerance procedures, and lower pressure-pain threshold, heat pain threshold, and heat pain tolerance at the vestibule in comparison with controls. Among women with PVD, lower heat pain threshold was associated with less sexual satisfaction, and higher pain ratings related to intercourse and heat pain tolerance, respectively, were associated with lower sexual function and satisfaction. CONCLUSIONS The results indicate that women with PVD experience negative sexual effects and increased pain sensitivity. This study also suggests that some aspects of pain may be related to lower levels of sexual function and satisfaction among affected women.
Accuracy and Dynamics of Hash-Based Load Balancing Algorithms for Multipath Internet Routing

This paper studies load balancing for multipath Internet routing. We focus on hash-based load balancing algorithms that work on the flow level to avoid packet reordering which is detrimental for the throughput of transport layer protocols like TCP. We propose a classification of hash-based load balancing algorithms, review existing ones and suggest new ones. Dynamic algorithms can actively react to load imbalances which causes route changes for some flows and thereby again packet reordering. Therefore, we investigate the load balancing accuracy and flow reassignment rate of load balancing algorithms. Our exhaustive simulation experiments show that these performance measures depend significantly on the traffic properties and on the algorithms themselves. As a consequence, our results should be taken into account for the application of load balancing in practice.
Attribution-Emotion Processes in White's Realistic Empathy Approach to Conflict and Negotiation

Emotions and the cognition-emotion linkage in conflict-related behaviors are examined in relation to White's (1985, 1986, 1991) realistic empathy approach to conflict and negotiation. An attribution-empathy model of prosocial behavior (e.g., Betancourt, 1990) and an attribution-emotion model of violence in conflict environments (e.g., Betancourt & Blair, 1992) provide the conceptual frame for articulating proposed relations among the various psychological aspects thought to be associated in realistic empathy. Research testing the structure of relations among perspective taking (PT), attribution processes, empathic emotions (EE), and anger as determinants of conflict-related behaviors provided evidence concerning the role of realistic empathy in conflict resolution and negotiations. Although realistic empathy is not actually measured in these studies, the procedure by which it is induced was manipulated and behaviors theoretically associated with it were measured. Results show that PT influences EE, anger,.
Targeting protein kinase A in cancer therapy: an update

Protein Kinase A (PKA) is a well known member of the serine-threonin protein kinase superfamily. PKA, also known as cAMP-dependent protein kinase, is a multi-unit protein kinase that mediates signal transduction of G-protein coupled receptors through its activation upon cAMP binding. The widespread expression of PKA subunit genes, and the myriad of mechanisms by which cAMP is regulated within a cell suggest that PKA signaling is one of extreme importance to cellular function. It is involved in the control of a wide variety of cellular processes from metabolism to ion channel activation, cell growth and differentiation, gene expression and apoptosis. Importantly, since it has been implicated in the initiation and progression of many tumors, PKA has been proposed as a novel biomarker for cancer detection, and as a potential molecular target for cancer therapy. Here, we highlight some features of cAMP/PKA signaling that are relevant to cancer biology and present an update on targeting PKA in cancer therapy.