Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Value of Peak Exercise Oxygen Consumption for Optimal Timing of Cardiac Transplantation in Ambulatory Patients With Heart Failure

BackgroundOptimal timing of cardiac transplantation in ambulatory patients with severe left ventricular dysfunction is often difficult. To determine whether measurement of peak oxygen consumption (Vo2) during maximal exercise testing can be used to identify patients in whom transplantation can be safely deferred, we prospectively performed exercise testing on all ambulatory patients referred for transplant between October 1986 and December 1989. Methods and ResultsPatients were assigned into one of three groups on the basis of exercise data: Group 1 (n =35) comprised patients accepted for transplant (Vo2<14 ml/kg/min); group 2 (n =52) comprised patients considered too well for transplant (Vo2 >14 ml/kg/min); and group 3 (n =27) comprised patients with low Vo2 rejected for transplant due to noncardiac problems. All three groups were comparable in New York Heart Association functional class, ejection fraction, and cardiac index (p=NS). Pulmonary capillary wedge pressure was significantly lower in group 2 than in either group 1 or 3 (p<0.05), although there was wide overlap. Patients with preserved exercise capacity (group 2) had cumulative 1- and 2-year survival rates of 94% and 84%, which are equal to survival levels after transplantation. In contrast, patients rejected for transplant (group 3) had survival rates of only 47% at 1 year and 32% at 2 years, whereas patients awaiting transplantation (group 1) had a survival rate of 790% at 1 year (both (p <0.005 versus patients with Vo2 > 14 ml/kg/min). All deaths in group 2 were sudden. By univariate and multivariate analyses, peak Vo2 was the best predictor of survival, with only pulmonary capillary wedge pressure providing additional prognostic information. Conclusions.These data suggest that cardiac transplantation can be safely deferred in ambulatory patients with severe left ventricular dysfunction and peak exercise Vo2 of more than 14 ml/min/kg. (Circulation 1991;83:778–786)
USC-EMO-MRI corpus: An emotional speech production database recorded by real-time magnetic resonance imaging

This paper introduces a new multimodal database of emotional speech production recorded using real-time magnetic resonance imaging. This corpus contains magnetic resonance (MR) videos of five male and five female speakers and the results of evaluation for the emotion quality of each sentence-level utterance, performed by at least 10 listeners. Both speakers and listeners are professional actors/actresses. The MR videos contain MR image sequences of the entire upper airway in the mid-sagittal plane and synchronized speech audios after noise cancellation. The stimuli comprises the “Grandfather“ passage and seven sentences. A single repetition of the passage and five repetitions of the sentences were recorded five times, each time with ad ifferent acted emotion. The four target emotions are anger, happiness, sadness and neutrality (no emotion). Additionally one repetition of the Grandfather passage was recorded in a neutral emotion and fast speaking rate, as opposed to a natural speaking rate for the rest of the recordings. This paper also includes a preliminary analysis of the MR images to illustrate how vocal tract configurations, measured in terms of distances between inner and outer vocal-tract walls along the tract, vary as a function of emotion.
The outcomes of therapeutic decision in lower 3rd rectal cancer patients

Abstract To investigate the outcomes of the selective neoadjuvant concurrent chemoradiotherapy (CCRT) in lower 3rd rectal cancer patients in different groups (with or without neoadjuvant CCRT), especially in survival rate, local recurrence rate, and sphincter preservation rate. From January 1999 to December 2012, 69 consecutive patients who had histologically proven adenocarcinoma of lower 3rd rectum, defined preoperatively as lower tumor margin within 7 cm from the anal verge as measured by rigid sigmoidoscopy, received total mesorectum excision (TME). Our inclusion criteria of neoadjuvant CCRT are lower 3rd rectal cancer, stage II/III, and large (diameter >5 cm or >1/2 of circumference). Neoadjuvant concurrent CCRT had begun to apply lower 3rd rectal cancer patients or not. The radiation techniques of neoadjuvant CCRT for lower 3rd rectal cancer patients were all conventional fraction intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT) and concurrent fluoropyrimidine chemotherapy. Five-year overall survival rate, disease-free survival rate, and local recurrence rate for lower 3rd rectal cancer patients in group I were 51%, 45%, and 25%, respectively. On the contrary, 5-year overall survival rate, disease-free survival rate, and local recurrence rate for lower rectal cancer patients in group II were 70%, 70%, and 3%, respectively. The 5-year sphincter sparing rate was increased from 38.2% to 100% after the beginning of neoadjuvant CCRT. Analyzing local recurrence, overall survival rate, disease-specific survival rate, and sphincter sparing rate in group II were statistically significant superior to group I. Five-year overall survival rate, disease-free survival rate, and sphincter sparing rate for lower 3rd rectal cancer patients were improved after the addition of neoadjuvant CCRT. No unacceptable toxicity was noted after conventional fraction IMRT and concurrent fluoropyrimidine chemotherapy. Our study showed neoadjuvant CCRT could be valuable for lower 3rd rectal cancer patients.
Intelligent Camera Control in a Virtual Environment

This paper describes a framework for exploring intelligent camera controls in a 3D virtual environment. It presents a methodology for designing the underlying camera controls based on an analysis of what tasks are to be required in a specific environment. Once an underlying camera framework is built, a variety of interfaces can be connected to the framework. A virtual museum is used as a prototypical virtual environment for this work. This paper identifies some of the tasks that need to be performed in a virtual museum, presents a paradigm for encapsulating those tasks into camera modules, and describes in detail the underlying mechanisms that make up the camera module for navigating through the environment.
Hydrolysis of phytic acid and its availability in rabbits

Twenty weaned rabbits were fed ad libitum two granulated feeds containing lucerne meal, barley, oats, wheat bran, oilseed meals and sugarbeet pulp in different proportions. Phytate P in these feeds represented 28·6 and 29·3 % of the total P. Digestibility trials were carried out in rabbits 7 and 10 weeks old. Digestibility of phytate P was 82·1 %, on average. Apparent digestibility of total P was 48·1 and 35·5 % in rabbits aged 7 and 10 weeks, respectively. Concentration of P in the faecal DM of these rabbits averaged 11·9 and 14·7 m/. Most of the faecal P was phosphates P (68·1 %). Proportion of phytate P in total faecal P was 9·0 %. Age effect on total P digestibility and faecal P concentration was significant (P<0·05). In five in vitro experiments twenty-four rabbits were killed at the age of 11 weeks, digesta samples diluted with physiological saline containing phytic acid and incubated anaerobically. Calculations of phytase activity in segments of the digestive tract were based on the estimation of phytic acid hydrolysed during the first 2 h of incubation. The caecum contained 58·6 % of the phytase activity of the digestive tract. Corresponding relative values for the phytase activity in the stomach, small intestine and colon were 22·3, 7·7 and 11·4 %, respectively. In incubations of the caecal contents, phytic acid was hydrolysed more rapidly at pH 5–6 than in the neutral pH region. The hydrolysis was inhibited by Ca cations, and to a small extent also by phosphate anions. Commercial fungal phytase (Natuphos®) was highly active in incubations of the contents of the stomach at pH 1·9. It can be concluded that phytic acid is hydrolysed quite efficiently in the digestive tract of rabbits. This hydrolysis occurred mainly in the caecum. Absorption of soluble inorganic phosphates in the gut is incomplete.
An HMM based Model for Prediction of Emotional Composition of a Facial Expression using both Significant and Insignificant Action Units and Associated Gender Differences

The problem of emotion prediction from the face is twofold. First, it requires that the facial Action Units (AUs) 1 and their intensities are identified and second interpreting the recorded AUs and their intensities as emotions. This work focuses on developing an accurate model to predict emotions from Facial Action Coding System(FACS) coded facial image data based on a Hidden Markov Model (HMM)approach. The novelty of this work is: 1) A new and more accurate model for emotion prediction from AU data is proposed by assigning a set of N HMMs to every AU where N is the number of emotions we consider while conventional studies have assigned at most one HMM per AU or lesser like 6 emotion specific HMMs for the entire set of AUs (3-6). Assigning N HMMs per AU takes away the errors that might creep in due to non-consideration of the insignificant or non-present AUs by calculating separately the probability contributions towards each emotion by every single AU in the entire AU set which is used later to calculate the mean probability for each emotion considering all AUs together. 2) A percentage score of each emotion that composed the face of a subject is predicted rather than to just identify the lead or prominent emotion from the maximum probability considerations as exhibited my majority of similar researches. 3) Discuss the gender differences in the depiction of emotion by the face.
Formulae-as-types for an involutive negation

Negation is not involutive in the λC calculus because it does not distinguish captured stacks from continuations. We show that there is a formulae-as-types correspondence between the involutive negation in proof theory, and a notion of high-level access to the stacks studied by Felleisen and Clements. We introduce polarised, untyped, calculi compatible with extensionality, for both of classical sequent calculus and classical natural deduction, with connectives for an involutive negation. The involution is due to the ℓ delimited control operator that we introduce, which allows us to implement the idea that captured stacks, unlike continuations, can be inspected. Delimiting control also gives a constructive interpretation to falsity. We describe the isomorphism there is between A and ¬¬A, and thus between ¬∀ and ∃¬.
[Involvement of nitric oxide and other molecules with redox potential in primary open angle glaucoma].

PURPOSE Nitric oxide (NO) and other molecules with redox potential are involved in cell signalling, including endothelial-dependent relaxation and the maintenance of vascular homeostasis. We investigated the availability of NO and the formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the aqueous humour and its relationship to the pathogenic mechanisms of primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). METHODS We analysed biochemically aqueous humour samples from patients having anterior segment surgery that were divided into two separate groups: 1) patients having a Watson's trabeculectomy because of worsening of the glaucoma evolution (GG; n=60), and 2) a comparative group of individuals having phacoemulsification for non-complicated cataracts (CG; n=60). Enzymatic-colorimetric methods were used to analyse the NO concentration, the lipid peroxidation by-product malondialdehyde (MDA) and the total antioxidant status (TAS). Statistical analysis was carried out in the two groups by means of the SPSS 15.0 programme. RESULTS A significant increase in both the NO concentration (p<0.05) and MDA levels (p<0.05), and a significant decrease of the TAS (p<0.05) were detected in the GG versus the CG samples. CONCLUSIONS Changes in NO availability and the concomitance of oxidative stress in the aqueous humour of the POAG patients may be useful markers for identifying those at risk of glaucoma progression and visual loss.
Practical visualization of internal structure of white matter for image interpretation: staining a spin-echo T2-weighted image with three echo-planar diffusion-weighted images.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE To our knowledge, no method satisfactory for clinical use has been developed to visualize white matter fiber tracts with diffusion-weighted MR imaging. The purpose of this study was to determine whether superposition of a spin-echo T2-weighted image and a color-coded image derived from three orthogonal diffusion-weighted images could show fiber tract architecture of the brain with an image quality appropriate for accurate reading with a computer monitor. METHODS MR images from 50 consecutive cases were reviewed. Three diffusion-weighted images per section were acquired with three orthogonal motion-probing gradients. These images were registered to a corresponding spin-echo T2-weighted image. A color-coded image was synthesized from three diffusion-weighted images by assigning red, green, or blue to each diffusion-weighted image and then adding a spin-echo T2-weighted image with a weighting factor. The ability of the superposed image to delineate the white matter pathways was evaluated on the basis of the known anatomy of these pathways and qualitatively compared with that of the spin-echo T2-weighted image. RESULTS The main white matter fiber pathways, in particular the superior longitudinal fascicle, corpus callosum, tapetum, optic radiation, and internal capsule, were more clearly and easily identified on the superposed image than on the spin-echo T2-weighted image. The time required to produce the superposed image was approximately 40 minutes. CONCLUSION Superposition of a spin-echo T2-weighted image and a color-coded image created from three orthogonal diffusion-weighted images showed structures of the brain that were not clearly visible on the spin-echo T2-weighted image alone. Such superposition presents images that are easy to interpret correctly.
Serum lipids and hippocampal volume: The link to Alzheimer's disease?

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Stimulus driver for epilepsy seizure suppression with adaptive loading impedance

A stimulus driver circuit for a micro-stimulator used in an implantable device is presented in this paper. For epileptic seizure control, the target of the driver was to output 30 µA stimulus currents when the electrode impedance varied between 20 and 200 kΩ. The driver, which consisted of the output stage, control block and adaptor, was integrated in a single chip. The averaged power consumption of the stimulus driver was 0.24–0.56 mW at 800 Hz stimulation rate. Fabricated in a 0.35 µm 3.3 V/24 V CMOS process and applied to a closed-loop epileptic seizure monitoring and controlling system, the proposed design has been successfully verified in the experimental results of Long-Evans rats with epileptic seizures.
Stress Hormones and the Immunological Responses to Heat and Exercise

This review focuses on the response of "stress" hormones to heat, exercise (single or repeated bouts), and combinations of these stimuli, with particular reference to their impact upon immune function. Very hot conditions induce a typical stress response, with secretion of catecholamines and cortisol. The catecholamines induce a demargination of leukocytes, and cortisol subsequently causes cells to migrate to lymphoid tissue. Sustained exercise, even in a thermally comfortable environment, induces a larger hormonal response than moderate thermal stress. With moderate exercise, increases in leukocyte numbers are related mainly to plasma norepinephrine concentrations, but with more intense exercise epinephrine concentrations assume a major importance. As exercise continues, plasma cortisol levels also rise, inducing an influx of neutrophils from bone marrow and an efflux of other leukocyte subsets. A combination of exercise and heat stress augments both hormonal and leukocyte responses. But these changes seem to be reversed if temperatures are clamped by exercising in cold water. If a second bout of exercise is performed with an inter-test interval of 30-45 min, neither hormone concentrations nor immune responses show any great cumulative effect under temperate conditions. However, in a hot environment the second exercise bout induces a larger and more persistent neutrophilia. Training influences these various responses mainly by decreasing the stress imposed when exercising at a given absolute work-rate.
Successful management of multilineage autoimmune cytopenia complicated with severe infection and deep vein thrombosis in a patient with Hodgkin lymphoma post‐autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation

Autoimmune cytopenia (AIHA, AITP or AIN) were uncommon paraneoplastic manifestations of HL and have been recognized in patients after HSCT with dismal outcome. We presented a case of 16‐yr‐old male with Hodgkin's lymphoma who developed severe AIC involving all three cell lineages after autologus bone marrow transplantation. No disease relapse was noted. Treatments with steroid, IVIG and immunosuppresants were in vain and the disease course was complicated with sepsis and deep vein thrombosis. Rituximab was administered along with broad‐spectrum antibiotics and low‐molecular weight heparin. The condition became stable and pancytopenia recovered after four doses of rituximab treatment. Severe multi‐lineage AIC post HSCT is usually refractory to first‐line treatment and difficult to manage. Second‐line treatment, such as rituximab, and dedicated care for pancytopenia‐induced or treatment‐related complications may provide a better outcome.
Comparison of I-vector and GMM-UBM approaches to speaker identification with TIMIT and NIST 2008 databases in challenging environments

In this paper, two models, the I-vector and the Gaussian Mixture Model-Universal Background Model (GMM-UBM), are compared for the speaker identification task. Four feature combinations of I-vectors with seven fusion techniques are considered: maximum, mean, weighted sum, cumulative, interleaving and concatenated for both two and four features. In addition, an Extreme Learning Machine (ELM) is exploited to identify speakers, and then Speaker Identification Accuracy (SIA) is calculated. Both systems are evaluated for 120 speakers from the TIMIT and NIST 2008 databases for clean speech. Furthermore, a comprehensive evaluation is made under Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN) conditions and with three types of Non Stationary Noise (NSN), both with and without handset effects for the TIMIT database. The results show that the I-vector approach is better than the GMM-UBM for both clean and AWGN conditions without a handset. However, the GMM-UBM had better accuracy for NSN types.
Synthesis and Mechanical Properties of Bulk Quantities of Electrodeposited Nanocrystalline Materials

Nanocrystalline materials have generated immense scientific interest, primarily due to observations of significantly enhanced strength and hardness resulting from Hall-Petch grain size strengthening into the nano-regime. Unfortunately, however, most previous studies have been unable to present material strength measurements using established tensile tests because the most commonly accepted tensile test protocols call for specimen geometries that exceeded the capabilities of most nanocrystalline material synthesis processes. This has led to the development of non-standard mechanical test methodologies for the evaluation of miniature specimens, and/or the persistent use of hardness indentation as a proxy for tensile testing. This study explored why such alternative approaches can be misleading and revealed how reliable tensile ductility measurements and material strength information from hardness indentation may be obtained. To do so, an electrodeposition-based synthesis method to produce artifact-reduced specimens large enough for testing in accordance with ASTM E8 was developed. A large number of 161 samples were produced, tested, and the resultant data evaluated using Weibull statistical analysis. It was found that the impact of electroforming process control on both the absolute value and variability of achievable tensile elongation was strong. Tensile necking was found to obey
How to combine probabilistic and fuzzy uncertainties in fuzzy control

Fuzzy control is a methodology that translates natural-language rules, formulated by expert controllers, into the actual control strategy that can be implemented in an automated controller. In many cases, in addition to the experts' rules, additional statistical information about the system is known. It is explained how to use this additional information in fuzzy control methodology.
Effects of elasticity on an under-actuated tendon-driven robotic finger

Under-actuated mechanisms with elastic elements have been used for realizing both pinching and power grasping of prosthetic hands. However, manipulation with these hands is merely discussed. This paper deals with a manipulation of an under-actuated robotic finger with an elastic element to validate the elastic effects on dynamic behaviors of this robotic finger. Especially, we focus on a pull-and-push motion of an object using this finger, evaluate the basic performance, and robustness of the sensor noises, and compare some configurations of elastic elements by simulations.
Knitted stretch sensors for sound output

Stretch sensors appear to offer the physical computing and wearables communities a solution in their flexibility. This paper introduces an interdisciplinary project in which knit, weave and embroidery specialists were brought together to examine how a carbon rubber sensor might be integrated aesthetically and functionally into different fabric structures. It reports on the drawbacks of the original commercially available sensor, and presents an exciting alternative direction using knit structures to build custom flexible sensors.
Autoregressive model of the hippocampal representation of events

The hippocampal formation is believed to play a central role in forming long lasting representation of events. However, in contrast to the continuous nature of sensory signal flow, events are spatially and temporally bounded processes. In this paper we are interested in the kind of representation that allows for detecting and/or predicting events. Based on new results on the identification problem of linear hidden processes, we propose a general signal encoding model that can represent causal relationships used to define events. We translate the model into a connectionist structure in which parameter learning follows biologically plausible rules. We also speculate on the resemblance of the resulting structure to the connection system of the hippocampal formation. When our signal encoding model is applied on spatially anchored inputs, its different parts feature spatially localized and periodic neural activity similar to those found in the hippocampus and in the entorhinal cortex, respectively. These emergent forms of spatial activity differentiates our model from other computational models of (spatial) memory as the model has not been explicitly designed to deal with spatial information. We speculate that our model may describe the core function of the hippocampal region in forming episodic memory and supporting spatial navigation.