Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Hepatic arterial cannulation using the side holed catheter

Hepatic arterial infusion chemotherapy (HAIC) has been recognized as one of the effective treatments for patients with hepatic metastatic tumor. However it is difficult to perform HAIC in the long term without complications. This report describes the laparotomic approach using the side holed catheter, which is a novel method of implanting a catheter‐port system.
Research on the IGPS device error and its influence of positioning accuracy

Indoor Global Positioning System (IGPS) is one of the most commonly used methods for indoor high-precision positioning. In order to improve the accuracy of IGPS essentially, this paper studies the device error and its influence on positioning accuracy through introducing the intermediate variable named scanning angle error. The relationship between positioning accuracy, device error and scanning angle error is derived respectively, and then this paper establishes the optimal relation formula of positioning accuracy and scanning angle error, analyzes the influence of device error on scanning angle error by modeling and simulating. Based on these, this paper proposes the improvement method of positioning accuracy from the view of device design to providing support for IGPS design.
Efficacy and tolerability of the combination valsartan/hydrochlorothiazide compared with amlodipine in a mild‐to‐moderately hypertensive Brazilian population

Most hypertensive patients need more than one drug to reach recommended blood‐pressure targets. We investigated the effects on 24‐h ambulatory blood pressure (ABP) of the angiotensin‐receptor blocker, valsartan, in combination with hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ), compared with the calcium‐channel blocker amlodipine in a Brazilian population in a multicentre, double‐blind, double‐dummy, parallel group, controlled study in 373 patients with essential hypertension. After a 2‐week washout period, patients with a mean sitting systolic blood pressure (SBP) of 160–190 mmHg were randomized to receive either valsartan 160 mg o.d. , or amlodipine 5 mg o.d. for 2 weeks and subsequently force‐titrated to valsartan 160 mg/HCTZ 25 mg o.d. or amlodipine 10 mg o.d. This regimen was continued until the end of the study at week 8. The primary efficacy parameter was the change from baseline to week 8 in mean 24‐h SBP. Secondary endpoints were change in mean 24‐h diastolic blood pressure (DBP), tolerability and safety of treatments. Valsartan/HCTZ achieved a mean reduction in systolic ABP of −19.1 ± 11.3 mmHg compared with −20.7 ± 12.0 mmHg with amlodipine (p = 0.324 for the comparison) and in diastolic ABP by −11.1 ± 7.4 mmHg vs −11.6 ± 7.2 mmHg by amlodipine (p = 0.853 for the comparison). The valsartan/HCTZ group exhibited markedly lower rates of adverse events and discontinuations than the amlodipine group. Peripheral oedemas were far more frequent with amlodipine than with valsartan/HCTZ (1.6% with valsartan/HCTZ; 16.8% with amlodipine). Thus, the valsartan 160 mg/HCTZ 25 mg combination appears to be as efficacious as amlodipine 10 mg in this patient population but better tolerated.
Biosignal Generation and Latent Variable Analysis With Recurrent Generative Adversarial Networks

The effectiveness of biosignal generation and data augmentation with biosignal generative models based on generative adversarial networks (GANs), which are a type of deep learning technique, was demonstrated in our previous paper. GAN-based generative models only learn the projection between a random distribution as input data and the distribution of training data. Therefore, the relationship between input and generated data is unclear, and the characteristics of the data generated from this model cannot be controlled. This study proposes a method for generating time-series data based on GANs and explores their ability to generate biosignals with certain classes and characteristics. Moreover, in the proposed method, latent variables are analyzed using canonical correlation analysis (CCA) to represent the relationship between input and generated data as canonical loadings. Using these loadings, we can control the characteristics of the data generated by the proposed method. The influence of class labels on generated data is analyzed by feeding the data interpolated between two class labels into the generator of the proposed GANs. The CCA of the latent variables is shown to be an effective method of controlling the generated data characteristics. We are able to model the distribution of the time-series data without requiring domain-dependent knowledge using the proposed method. Furthermore, it is possible to control the characteristics of these data by analyzing the model trained using the proposed method. To the best of our knowledge, this work is the first to generate biosignals using GANs while controlling the characteristics of the generated data.
Temporal Relationship between the Auditory Brainstem Response and Focal Responses of Auditory Nerve Root and Cochlear Nucleus during Development in the Tammar Wallaby (Macropus eugenii)

Thirty-two pouch-young tammar wallabies were used to discover the generators of the auditory brainstem response (ABR) during development by the use of simultaneous ABR and focal brainstem recordings. A click response from the auditory nerve root (ANR) in the wallaby was recorded from postnatal day (PND) 101, when no central auditory station was functional, and coincided with the ABR, a simple positive wave. The response of the cochlear nucleus (CN) was detected from PND 110, when the ABR had developed 1 positive and 1 negative peak. The dominant component of the focal ANR response, the N1 wave, coincided with the first half of the ABR P wave, and that of the focal CN response, the N1 wave, coincided with the later two thirds. In older animals, the ANR response coincided with the ABR’s N1 wave, while the CN response coincided with the ABR’s P2, N2 and P3 waves, with its contribution to the ABR P2 dominant. The protracted development of the marsupial auditory system which facilitated these correlations makes the tammar wallaby a particularly suitable model.
A 300-500 MHz Tunable Oscillator Exploiting Ten Overtones in Single Lithium Niobate Resonator

This paper presents the first voltage-controlled MEMS oscillator (VCMO) based on a Lithium Niobate (LiNbO3) lateral overtone bulk acoustic resonator (LOBAR). The VCMO consists of a LOBAR in a closed loop with 2 amplification stages and a varactor-embedded tunable LC tank. By adjusting the bias voltage applied to the varactor, the tank can be tuned to change the closed-loop gain and phase responses of the oscillator so that the Barkhausen conditions are satisfied for a particular resonance mode. The tank is designed to allow the proposed VCMO to lock to any of the ten overtones ranging from 300 to 500 MHz. Owing to the high-quality factors of the LiNbO3 LOBAR, the measured VCMO shows a low close-in phase noise of -100 dBc/Hz at 1 kHz offset from a 300 MHz carrier and a noise floor of -153 dBc/Hz while consuming 9 mW. With further optimization, this VCMO can lead to direct radio frequency (RF) synthesis for ultra-lowpower transceivers in multi-mode Internet-of-Things (IoT) nodes.
A Strategy to Search for an Inner Binary Black Hole from the Motion of the Tertiary Star

There are several on-going projects to detect a number of stars orbiting around invisible objects. A fraction of them may be a triple system consisting of an inner binary black hole (BBH) and an outer orbiting star. In this paper, we propose a methodology to search for a signature of the inner BBH, possibly a progenitor of gravitational wave sources recently detected by LIGO, from the precise radial velocity follow-up of the outer star. For simplicity and definiteness, we focus on a coplanar and near-circular three-body system and derive analytic perturbation formulae of the orbital elements for the outer star. This formula will be useful in designing a follow-up radial velocity observation to search for an invisible BBH. As a specific example, we consider the 2M05215658+4359220 system of a red giant orbiting around an unseen object. The resulting constraint reveals that if the unseen companion is indeed a BBH of roughly equal masses, its orbital period should be less than a couple of weeks. Future radial-velocity monitoring of the system for a week will either strengthen the constraint or even detect a signature of the inner BBH. A similar velocity modulation, however, may be produced by a planet around the outer star as well. Thus we consider the degeneracy between the inner BBH and planet-star interpretations as well. In either case, short-cadence follow-up monitoring of a star-black binary system in future offers an interesting possibility to search for otherwise invisible BBHs.
How Case Based Reasoning Explained Neural Networks: An XAI Survey of Post-Hoc Explanation-by-Example in ANN-CBR Twins

This paper surveys an approach to the XAI problem, using post-hoc explanation by example, that hinges on twinning Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) with Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) systems, so-called ANN-CBR twins. A systematic survey of 1100+ papers was carried out to identify the fragmented literature on this topic and to trace it influence through to more recent work involving Deep Neural Networks (DNNs). The paper argues that this twin-system approach, especially using ANN-CBR twins, presents one possible coherent, generic solution to the XAI problem (and, indeed, XCBR problem). The paper concludes by road-mapping some future directions for this XAI solution involving (i) further tests of feature-weighting techniques, (iii) explorations of how explanatory cases might best be deployed (e.g., in counterfactuals, near-miss cases, a fortori cases), and (iii) the raising of the unwelcome and, much ignored, issue of human user evaluation.
MaMiC: Macro and Micro Curriculum for Robotic Reinforcement Learning

Generating a curriculum for guided learning involves subjecting the agent to easier goals first, and then gradually increasing their difficulty. This work takes a similar direction and proposes a dual curriculum scheme for solving robotic manipulation tasks with sparse rewards, called MaMiC. It includes a macro curriculum scheme which divides the task into multiple subtasks followed by a micro curriculum scheme which enables the agent to learn between such discovered subtasks. We show how combining macro and micro curriculum strategies help in overcoming major exploratory constraints considered in robot manipulation tasks without having to engineer any complex rewards and also illustrate the meaning and usage of the individual curricula. The performance of such a scheme is analysed on the Fetch environments.
An evaluation of near-patient testing of anticoagulant control in general practice.

PURPOSE This paper aims to compare anticoagulant management in secondary care for the year prior to the introduction of near-patient testing in a general practice, and in the subsequent year after it was introduced. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH This paper is a retrospective, paired before-after study. Details of test results in the two-year-long periods on the 46 patients who met the inclusion criteria were collected and analysed pairwise. FINDINGS Despite an increase in the frequency of testing this set of patients were controlled as well in general practice as they had been with a secondary-care service, and better that in a number of studies in the literature. RESEARCH LIMITATIONS/IMPLICATIONS This research reviews a recently introduced service at a single centre. Further research of patient satisfaction and adverse events in a multi-centre longer-term trial are desirable. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS Technology now allows the increasing amount of individuals on anticoagualtion to be controlled with near-patient testing in general practice. This study shows that satisfactory control can be maintained in patients who transfer from a secondary care-based to a primary care-based service. ORIGINALITY/VALUE This paper demonstrates that a single general practice can provide a high quality anticoagulant service using near-patient testing and computer-based decision support. This adds to the already available evidence and will hopefully encourage other practices to adopt the same.
Sample collections from healthy volunteers for biological variation estimates’ update: a new project undertaken by the Working Group on Biological Variation established by the European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine

Abstract Background: Biological variation (BV) data have many fundamental applications in laboratory medicine. At the 1st Strategic Conference of the European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) the reliability and limitations of current BV data were discussed. The EFLM Working Group on Biological Variation is working to increase the quality of BV data by developing a European project to establish a biobank of samples from healthy subjects to be used to produce high quality BV data. Methods: The project involved six European laboratories (Milan, Italy; Bergen, Norway; Madrid, Spain; Padua, Italy; Istanbul, Turkey; Assen, The Netherlands). Blood samples were collected from 97 volunteers (44 men, aged 20–60 years; 43 women, aged 20–50 years; 10 women, aged 55–69 years). Initial subject inclusion required that participants completed an enrolment questionnaire to verify their health status. The volunteers provided blood specimens once per week for 10 weeks. A short questionnaire was completed and some laboratory tests were performed at each sampling consisting of blood collected under controlled conditions to provide serum, K2EDTA-plasma and citrated-plasma samples. Results: Samples from six out of the 97 enroled subjects were discarded as a consequence of abnormal laboratory measurements. A biobank of 18,000 aliquots was established consisting of 120 aliquots of serum, 40 of EDTA-plasma, and 40 of citrated-plasma from each subject. The samples were stored at –80 °C. Conclusions: A biobank of well-characterised samples collected under controlled conditions has been established delivering a European resource to enable production of contemporary BV data.
Is procalcitonin useful in early diagnosis of serious bacterial infections in children?

Aim: To compare diagnostic accuracy of procalcitonin for early diagnosis of serious bacterial infection (SBI) in children presenting with fever and no focus of infection. Methods: Prospective, observational study involving 72 children (1–36 mo) presenting to the paediatric units of two university hospitals. All children had blood cultures, urine cultures, white blood cell counts (WBC), chest X‐ray, C‐reactive protein (CRP) and procalcitonin (PCT) done at presentation. Results: Eight (11.1%) children had SBI (1 pneumonia, 2 meningitis, 4 septicaemia/occult bacteraemia, 2 pyelonephritis), 19 (26.4%) had possible bacterial infection (received antibiotic treatment, but no organism grown) and 45 (62.5%) had viral or possible viral infection (virus isolated and/or uneventful recovery without antibiotics). PCT (>2 ng/l), CRP (>50 mg/l) and McCarthy's score (<9) had sensitivities and specificities of 50%/85.9%, 75%/68.7% and 87.5%/67.2%, respectively. Negative and positive likelihood ratios for CRP (>50 mg/l), PCT (>2 ng/l), white blood cells (>15×105/l) and McCarthy's score (<9) were 0.36/2.4, 0.58/3.5, 0.94/1.1 and 0.19/2.7, respectively. A combination of PCT, CRP and WBC generated a positive likelihood ratio of 10.6, changing the post‐test probability to 54%.
Thermotolerance expression in mitotic CHO cells without increased translation of heat shock proteins

The objective of this study was to unequivocally demonstrate thermotolerance expression in mammalian cells in the absence of stress‐induced synthesis of heat shock proteins (HSPs). Mitotic cells were selected as an experimental system since their genome was in the form of condensed chromosomes and ostensibly incapable of being transcribed; thus, obviating stress‐induced HSP gene expression. Asynchronous Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells were treated with 0.2 μg/ml nocodazole to accumulate cells in mitosis for harvest by mitotic shakeoff. Cells were maintained in mitosis with nocodazole during thermotolerance induction, thermotolerance development, and all challenge hyperthermia exposures. Although the heat shock transcription factor was activated by the thermotolerance inducing heat shock, as indicated by gel mobility shift assay, no increase in steady‐state HSP mRNA levels was detected, as expected. Preferential synthesis of HSPs from extant mRNA was not detected during thermotolerance development and cellular levels of the 27 kDa, 70 kDa, and 90 kDa heat shock proteins remained constant, as determined by Western Blot analyses. The magnitude and induction threshold of expressed thermotolerance was not diminished when cells were incubated with 10.0 μg/ml cycloheximide during thermotolerance development confirming that new protein synthesis was not requisite. Parallel experiments were performed using nonmitotic cells in which protein synthesis was inhibited during thermotolerance development with 10.0 μg/ml cycloheximide. As with mitotic cells, high levels of thermotolerance were attained without detectable increases in the cellular content of the 27 kDa, 70 kDa, and 90 kDa heat shock proteins. The results of this study demonstrated that high levels of thermotolerance could be expressed in mitotic cells without stress‐induced, preferential synthesis of HSPs, and support the contention that a substantial fraction of thermotolerance expressed in nonmitotic cells also occurs independently of induced HSP synthesis. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
MiSC: Mixed Strategies Crowdsourcing

Popular crowdsourcing techniques mostly focus on evaluating workers' labeling quality before adjusting their weights during label aggregation. Recently, another cohort of models regard crowdsourced annotations as incomplete tensors and recover unfilled labels by tensor completion. However, mixed strategies of the two methodologies have never been comprehensively investigated, leaving them as rather independent approaches. In this work, we propose MiSC ( Mixed Strategies Crowdsourcing), a versatile framework integrating arbitrary conventional crowdsourcing and tensor completion techniques. In particular, we propose a novel iterative Tucker label aggregation algorithm that outperforms state-of-the-art methods in extensive experiments.
Implementing a Library for Probabilistic Programming Using Non-strict Non-determinism

Abstract This paper presents PFLP, a library for probabilistic programming in the functional logic programming language Curry. It demonstrates how the concepts of a functional logic programming language support the implementation of a library for probabilistic programming. In fact, the paradigms of functional logic and probabilistic programming are closely connected. That is, language characteristics from one area exist in the other and vice versa. For example, the concepts of non-deterministic choice and call-time choice as known from functional logic programming are related to and coincide with stochastic memoization and probabilistic choice in probabilistic programming, respectively. We will further see that an implementation based on the concepts of functional logic programming can have benefits with respect to performance compared to a standard list-based implementation and can even compete with full-blown probabilistic programming languages, which we illustrate by several benchmarks.
The A, C, G, and T of Genome Assembly

Genome assembly in its two decades of history has produced significant research, in terms of both biotechnology and computational biology. This contribution delineates sequencing platforms and their characteristics, examines key steps involved in filtering and processing raw data, explains assembly frameworks, and discusses quality statistics for the assessment of the assembled sequence. Furthermore, the paper explores recent Ubuntu-based software environments oriented towards genome assembly as well as some avenues for future research.
A range‐wide genetic bottleneck overwhelms contemporary landscape factors and local abundance in shaping genetic patterns of an alpine butterfly (Lepidoptera: Pieridae: Colias behrii)

Spatial and environmental heterogeneity are major factors in structuring species distributions in alpine landscapes. These landscapes have also been affected by glacial advances and retreats, causing alpine taxa to undergo range shifts and demographic changes. These nonequilibrium population dynamics have the potential to obscure the effects of environmental factors on the distribution of genetic variation. Here, we investigate how demographic change and environmental factors influence genetic variation in the alpine butterfly Colias behrii. Data from 14 microsatellite loci provide evidence of bottlenecks in all population samples. We test several alternative models of demography using approximate Bayesian computation (ABC), with the results favouring a model in which a recent bottleneck precedes rapid population growth. Applying independent calibrations to microsatellite loci and a nuclear gene, we estimate that this bottleneck affected both northern and southern populations 531–281 years ago, coinciding with a period of global cooling. Using regression approaches, we attempt to separate the effects of population structure, geographical distance and landscape on patterns of population genetic differentiation. Only 40% of the variation in FST is explained by these models, with geographical distance and least‐cost distance among meadow patches selected as the best predictors. Various measures of genetic diversity within populations are also decoupled from estimates of local abundance and habitat patch characteristics. Our results demonstrate that demographic change can have a disproportionate influence on genetic diversity in alpine species, contrasting with other studies that suggest landscape features control contemporary demographic processes in high‐elevation environments.
At what cost is performance-based financing implemented? Novel evidence from Malawi.

Our study estimated the full economic cost of implementing performance-based financing [PBF, the Support for Service Delivery Integration Performance-Based Incentives (SSDI-PBI) programme], as a means of first introducing strategic purchasing in a low-income setting, Malawi. Our analysis distinguished design from implementation costs and traces costs across personnel and non-personnel cost categories over the 2012-15 period. The full cost of the SSDI-PBI programme amounted to USD 3 402 187, equivalent to USD 6.46 per targeted beneficiary. The design phase accounted for about one-third (USD 1 161 332) of the total costs, while the incentives (USD 1 140 436) represented about one-third of the total cost of the intervention and about half the cost of the implementation phase. With a cost of USD 1 605 178, personnel costs represented the dominant cost category. Our study indicated that the introduction of PBF entailed consumption of a substantial amount of resources, hence representing an important opportunity cost for the health system.