Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Use of Multispectral Optoacoustic Tomography to Diagnose Vascular Malformations

Importance Differential diagnosis of congenital vascular anomalies is challenging, and misdiagnosis is frequent. Vascular malformations are considered one of the most difficult vascular diseases to treat. A new imaging approach that visualizes anatomical features and quantitatively assesses molecular biomarkers noninvasively would aid diagnosis and monitoring of treatment response of vascular malformations. Objective To evaluate multispectral optoacoustic tomography (MSOT) for noninvasive assessment of molecular biomarkers for diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of vascular malformations. Design, Setting, and Participants This pilot study examined 6 patients with arteriovenous malformation (AVM) and 6 patients with venous malformation (VM) diagnosed according to the classification system of the International Society for the Study of Vascular Anomalies. All patients underwent clinical hybrid MSOT/ultrasonographic (US) imaging before and after treatment at an interdisciplinary vascular malformations clinic by trained MSOT and US examiners. Examiners were blinded to the patient history and stage of disease. Data were collected from April 11 to 25, 2017, and analyzed from May 1 to October 31, 2017. Interventions Clinical hybrid MSOT/US imaging was performed before or within 1 week after endovascular embolization (for AVM) or percutaneous sclerotherapy (for VM). Main Outcomes and Measures Region-of-interest analysis of the lesion and contralateral healthy tissue revealed quantitative values for oxygenated (HbO2) and deoxygenated (HbR) hemoglobin by spectral unmixing of optoacoustic data acquired at multiple wavelengths. The HbO2:HbR ratio was calculated for healthy tissue and for AVM and VM before and after treatment. Results Twelve patients (9 female and 3 male; mean [SD] age, 23 [18] years; age range, 6-59 years) with vascular malformations (6 with AVMs and 6 with VMs) were included. Significantly higher HbO2:HbR ratios for AVMs (mean [SEM], 1.82 [0.08] vs 0.89 [0.03]; P < .001) and for VMs (mean [SEM], 1.12 [0.04] vs 0.89 [0.03]; P = .001) were found on MSOT tissue compared with healthy tissue. Significantly higher HbO2:HbR ratios for AVMs compared with VMs (mean [SEM], 1.82 [0.08] vs 1.12 [0.04]; P < .001) were also found. Therefore, MSOT provided intrinsic biomarker patterns to distinguish both vascular malformations. After therapy, the HbO2:HbR ratio dropped in correlation to treatment success validated by magnetic resonance imaging or angiography. Conclusions and Relevance This study suggests that different types of vascular malformations are clearly distinguished by MSOT-based, noninvasive assessment of hemoglobin levels in vascular malformations. The therapy effects found in this study could be instantly visualized, and this may offer a new tool for noninvasive diagnosis and monitoring of vascular malformations.
Comorbid Cannabis and Tobacco Use Disorders in Hospitalized Patients with Psychotic-Spectrum Disorders

Abstract Objective: Individuals with psychotic-spectrum disorders use tobacco and cannabis at higher rates than the general population and individuals with other psychiatric disorders, which may contribute to increased rates of medical problems and mortality. The present study examined whether individuals with psychosis and comorbid tobacco and/or cannabis use disorders exhibit differing clinical characteristics in terms of their sociodemographic, mental health, substance use, physical health, and medication use patterns. Elucidation of these profiles, and determining their relative severity, has important implications for treatment, including offering more targeted interventions based on type of comorbidity pattern. Methods: We examined the electronic medical records of 829 patients with psychotic-spectrum disorders admitted to a psychiatric hospital and categorized them as having: (1) cannabis use disorder (CUD); (2) tobacco use disorder (TUD); (3) comorbid cannabis and tobacco use disorders (CUD + TUD); or (4) neither disorder (no CUD/TUD). Multinomial logistic regression was used to compare the aforementioned groups on multiple variables controlling for age and sex. Results: Alcohol and stimulant use disorder diagnoses were each related to higher odds of having a CUD and CUD + TUD, relative to no CUD/TUD. Stimulant and polysubstance use disorder diagnoses were each related to higher odds of having a TUD compared to no CUD/TUD. Greater number of prescribed psychotropic medications was related to higher odds of a TUD compared to no CUD/TUD. Conclusions: Although several differences between groups were accounted for by age of cannabis versus tobacco users, findings point to the importance of considering comorbid alcohol and substance use disorders among those with psychosis and CUD/TUD, as these comorbidities have important implications for screening and treatment selection during and following acute hospitalization.
Analyzing Energy/Performance Trade-Offs with Power Capping for Parallel Applications On Modern Multi and Many Core Processors

In the paper we present extensive results from analyzing energy/performance trade-offs with power capping observed on four different modern CPUs, for three different parallel applications such as 2D heat distribution, numerical integration and Fast Fourier Transform. The CPU tested represent both multi-core type CPUs such as Intel® Xeon®E5, desktop and mobile i7 as well as many-core Intel® Xeon PhiTMx200 but also server, desktop and mobile solutions used widely nowadays. We show that using enforced power caps we can find points of lower than default energy consumption but mostly for desktop and mobile solutions at the cost of increased execution time. We show with particular numbers how energy consumed, power consumption and execution time change for the point of minimum energy used versus the default configuration with no power limit, for each application and each tested CPU.
Recent Advances Towards the Development of a Potent Antiviral Against the Hepatitis E Virus

Abstract Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is one of the leading causes of acute viral hepatitis. It also causes acute liver failure and acute-on-chronic liver failure in many patients, such as those suffering from other infections/liver injuries or organ transplant/chemotherapy recipients. Despite widespread sporadic and epidemic incidents, there is no specific treatment against HEV, justifying an urgent need for developing a potent antiviral against it. This review summarizes the known antiviral candidates and provides an overview of the potential targets for the development of specific antivirals against HEV.
A Novel Feature Selection Method in the Categorization of Imbalanced Textual Data

Text data distribution is often imbalanced. Imbalanced data is one of the challenges in text classification, as it leads to the loss of performance of classifiers. Many studies have been conducted so far in this regard. The proposed solutions are divided into several general categories, include sampling-based and algorithm-based methods. In recent studies, feature selection has also been considered as one of the solutions for the imbalance problem. In this paper, a novel one-sided feature selection known as probabilistic feature selection (PFS) was presented for imbalanced text classification. The PFS is a probabilistic method that is calculated using feature distribution. Compared to the similar methods, the PFS has more parameters. In order to evaluate the performance of the proposed method, the feature selection methods including Gini, MI, FAST and DFS were implemented. To assess the proposed method, the decision tree classifications such as C4.5 and Naive Bayes were used. The results of tests on Reuters-21875 and WebKB figures per F-measure suggested that the proposed feature selection has significantly improved the performance of the classifiers.
A prospective, randomized, double‐blinded, placebo‐controlled clinical study on postoperative antibiotherapy in 150 arthroscopy‐assisted tibial plateau leveling osteotomies in dogs

OBJECTIVE To determine the influence of a 7-day course of postoperative antibiotherapy (cefpodoxime) on surgical site infections (SSI) after tibial plateau leveling osteotomy (TPLO). STUDY DESIGN Prospective, randomized, double-blinded, placebo-controlled clinical study. SAMPLE POPULATION One hundred fifty client-owned dogs, with consent. METHODS Dogs undergoing arthroscopy-assisted TPLO were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 groups, the placebo group receiving perioperative cefazolin and 7 days of placebo medication after surgery or the treatment group receiving perioperative cefazolin and 7 days of postoperative cefpodoxime. Twenty-seven factors were analyzed for association with SSI by using univariate analysis, Fisher's exact test, or Wilcoxon rank-sum test. RESULTS SSI rates did not differ (P = .34) between the placebo group (17%; 95% confidence level [CL] 7.94%-26.43%) and the treatment group (11% SSI; 95% CL 3.98%-18.88%). The probability that > 23% of dogs would benefit from postoperative antibiotherapy was less than 5%. The only association between the factors tested in this study and SSI involved the body weight (kg), with each 1 unit increase in kilogram weight increasing the odds of developing an SSI by 4.7%. CONCLUSION Although the wide CL may be consistent with a type II error, a 7-day course of cefpodoxime after arthroscopy-assisted TPLO did not influence postoperative SSI in the population tested here. In addition, only a small proportion of dogs would benefit from postoperative antibiotherapy under the conditions of our study. CLINICAL SIGNIFICANCE These results should prompt surgeons to reconsider systematic antibiotherapy after TPLO and justify additional studies to determine whether dogs predisposed to infection could benefit from such an approach.
Representation Matters: An Unexpected Property of Polynomial Rings and its Consequences for Formalizing Abstract Field Theory

In this paper we develop a Mizar formalization of Kronecker's construction, which states that for every field <tex>$F$</tex> and irreducible polynomial <tex>$p \in F[X]$</tex> there exists a field extension <tex>$E$</tex> of <tex>$F$</tex> such that <tex>$p$</tex> has a root over <tex>$E$</tex>. It turns out that to prove the correctness of the construction the field <tex>$F$</tex> needs to provide a disjointness condition, namely <tex>$F \cap F[X] = \emptyset$</tex>. Surprisingly this property does not hold for arbitrary representations of a field <tex>$F{:}$</tex> We construct for almost every field <tex>$F$</tex> another representation <tex>$F^{\prime}$</tex>, i.e. an isomorphic copy <tex>$F^{\prime}$</tex> of <tex>$F$</tex>, not satisfying this condition. As a consequence to <tex>$F^{\prime}$</tex> our formalization of Kronecker's construction cannot be applied. All proofs have been carried out in the Mizar system. Based on Mizar's representation of the fields <tex>$\mathbb{Z}_{p}, \mathbb{Q}$</tex>, and <tex>$\mathbb{R}$</tex> we also have proven that <tex>$\mathbb{Z}_{p}\cap \mathbb{Z}_{p}[X]=\emptyset,\ \mathbb{Q}\cap\mathbb{Q}[X] = \emptyset$</tex>, and <tex>$\mathbb{R}\cap \mathbb{R}[X]=\emptyset$</tex> respectively.
Do liposomal bupivacaine infiltration and interscalene nerve block provide similar pain relief after total shoulder arthroplasty: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective Controversy still exists regarding the efficiency and safety of liposomal bupivacaine (LB) vs interscalene nerve block (INB) for pain management after total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA). The aim of the present meta-analysis was to perform a relatively credible and overall assessment to compare the efficiency and safety of LB-based infiltration vs INB for pain management after TSA. Methods The PubMed, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, and EMBASE were systematically searched. Only studies published up to March 2018 comparing LB vs INB for pain control after TSA were included. The primary outcome extracted from the studies was postoperative pain score at different periods. The secondary outcomes included total opioid consumption, length of hospital stay, and complications. Results Seven studies with 707 patients were included in this study. No statistically significant difference was observed between the LB and INB groups in pain scores at 8 hours, 12 hours, 24 hours, postoperative day (POD) 1, and POD 2. The two groups also showed comparable total opioid consumption at POD 0, POD 1, POD 2, and length of hospital stay. The LB group had a significantly higher pain score at 4 hours (standard mean difference =0.65, 95% CI=0.07 to 1.24, P=0.03) but a lower occurrence rate of complications than did the INB group (OR =0.51, 95% CI=0.28 to 0.91, P=0.02). Conclusion This meta-analysis revealed that INB provides excellent analgesic effects within 4 hours after TSA, while patients treated with LB infiltration experienced significantly less occurrence rate of complications after TSA. In general, both approaches provide similar overall pain relief and have similar opioid consumption after TSA, with no significant difference in the length of hospital stay. Nevertheless, more high-quality randomized controlled trails with long-term follow-up are still required to make the final conclusion.
Robotic Process Automation of Unstructured Data with Machine Learning

—In this paper we present our work in progress on building an artiﬁcial intelligence system dedicated to tasks regarding the processing of formal documents used in various kinds of business procedures. The main challenge is to build machine learning (ML) models to improve the quality and efﬁciency of business processes involving image processing, optical character recognition (OCR), text mining and information extraction. In the paper we introduce the research and application ﬁeld, some common techniques used in this area and our preliminary results and conclusions.
CTG18.1 Expansion is the Best Classifier of Late-Onset Fuchs' Corneal Dystrophy Among 10 Biomarkers in a Cohort From the European Part of Russia.

Purpose To assess the occurrence and diagnostic performance of nine single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) in the TCF4, SLC4A11, LOXHD1, and AGBL1 genes and the CTG18.1 trinucleotide repeat expansion in a Russian cohort of Fuchs' endothelial corneal dystrophy (FECD) patients. Methods This retrospective case-control study included 100 patients diagnosed with FECD (cases) and 100 patients with cataracts (controls). Blood DNA was used to perform PCR and subsequent Sanger sequencing of rs613872 and rs17595731 in TCF4, c.99-100delTC, rs267607065, rs267607064, and rs267607066 in SLC4A11, rs113444922 in LOXHD1, and rs181958589 and rs185919705 in AGBL1. The number of CTG18.1 trinucleotide repeats was determined by a combination of conventional PCR or triplet primed PCR with fragment analysis. Results At least one rs613872 marker allele was found in 78% of FECD patients and 21% of controls, and at least one rs17595731 marker allele was found in 14% and 2%, respectively. CTG18.1 trinucleotide expansion (>40 repeats) was detected in 72% of FECD patients and 5% of controls. Marker alleles of the tested SNVs in SLC4A11, LOXHD1, and rs185919705 in AGBL1 were not found in our FECD cohort. One FECD patient carried the marker allele of the rs181958589 SNV. Analysis of the diagnostic performance of individual markers in TCF4 and their combinations showed that the CTG18.1 repeat expansion was the best classifier for FECD (AUC = 0.84). Conclusions Patients carrying CTG18.1 repeat expansion constituted a high proportion of the Russian FECD cohort; therefore, this marker is suitable for development of diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.
Personalized Proteomics for Precision Health: Identifying Biomarkers of Vitreoretinal Disease

Proteomic analysis is an attractive and powerful tool for characterizing the molecular profiles of diseased tissues, such as the vitreous. The complexity of data available for analysis ranges from single (e.g., enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA]) to thousands (e.g., mass spectrometry) of proteins, and unlike genomic analysis, which is limited to denoting risk, proteomic methods take snapshots of a diseased vitreous to evaluate ongoing molecular processes in real time. The proteome of diseased ocular tissues was recently characterized, uncovering numerous biomarkers for vitreoretinal diseases and identifying protein targets for approved drugs, allowing for drug repositioning. These biomarkers merit more attention regarding their therapeutic potential and prospective validation, as well as their value as reproducible, sensitive, and specific diagnostic markers Translational Relevance Personalized proteomics offers many advantages over alternative precision-health platforms for the diagnosis and treatment of vitreoretinal diseases, including identification of molecular constituents in the diseased tissue that can be targeted by available drugs.
Tunable dual-mode filtering power divider with harmonic suppression

This paper presents a tunable dual-mode filtering power divider (TDFPD) with harmonic suppression. Two tunable dual-mode resonators are embedded into a power divider with equal power ratio to realize the proposed TDFPD. The odd-mode of the dual-mode resonator is rigorously designed to approach its even-mode so that the proposed TDFPD will show a harmonic suppression performance. Tuning elements sharing technology is also utilized to minimize the numbers of varactors. To demonstrate the proposed design, a prototype is designed and fabricated. The measurement shows the TDFPD can be tuned from 2.10 to 2.31GHz with a return loss better than 15 dB and Harmonic suppression is better than 20 dB at the frequency range of 2.5 to 9GHz. Good agreements are observed between measured and simulated results.
Serum Adoption Challenges Detection Model: SACDM

Scrum has been the most widely adopted Agile methodology over the past decade with Scrum and Scrum variants offering alternatives to the old software development methods. While Scrum plays an important role in the success of Agile development, it does come with its own challenges. In previous research challenges have been analyzed at the organizational and team level, primarily via case studies. However, fundamentally, Scrum needs to be adopted at the individual level. Furthermore, challenges such as inexperience, poor communication’ specialization, lack of teamwork, low-quality, organizational culture and Scrum compatibility, have been identified as contributors. This paper therefore discusses the Scrum and Agile adoption challenges faced both globally as well as within the South African borders, from the findings of a narrative review. Secondly, a custom model adapted from the Diffusion of Innovation theoretical model was developed to detect the Scrum adoption challenges experienced within software organizations at the individual level. The custom model referred to as the Scrum Adoption Challenges Detection Model (SACDM) consists of four constructs, namely; individual factors, team factors, organizational factors and technology factors. The constructs are composed of nineteen independent variables that assists in understanding which factors contributes towards an individual either adopting or rejecting Scrum within a software organization. SACDM is therefore used to detect the adoption or rejection of Scrum as the dependent variable based on the independent variables being tested within the four constructs. The model can further be used with a survey questionnaire to provide generalized awareness of Scrum adoption challenges allowing software organizations to make more informed decisions when adopting Scrum, Future research is to allow the model to contribute towards Scrum adoption challenges predictive analysis.
Efficient sketch-based 3D character modelling

Sketch-based modelling (SBM) has undergone substantial research over the past two decades. In the early days, researchers aimed at developing techniques useful for modelling of architectural and mechanical models through sketching. With the advancement of technology used in designing visual effects for film, TV and games, the demand for highly realistic 3D character models has skyrocketed. To allow artists to create 3D character models quickly, researchers have proposed several techniques for efficient character modelling from sketched feature curves. Moreover several research groups have developed 3D shape databases to retrieve 3D models from sketched inputs. Unfortunately, the current state of the art in sketch-based organic modelling (3D character modelling) contains a lot of gaps and limitations. To bridge the gaps and improve the current sketch-based modelling techniques, this research aims to develop an approach allowing direct and interactive modelling of 3D characters from sketched feature curves, and also make use of 3D shape databases to guide the artist to create his / her desired models. The research involved finding a fusion between 3D shape retrieval, shape manipulation, and shape reconstruction / generation techniques backed by an extensive literature review, experimentation and results. The outcome of this research involved devising a novel and improved technique for sketch-based modelling, the creation of a software interface that allows the artist to quickly and easily create realistic 3D character models with comparatively less effort and learning. The proposed research work provides the tools to draw 3D shape primitives and manipulate them using simple gestures which leads to a better modelling experience than the existing state of the art SBM systems.
Semiparametric regression analysis of length‐biased interval‐censored data

In prevalent cohort design, subjects who have experienced an initial event but not the failure event are preferentially enrolled and the observed failure times are often length‐biased. Moreover, the prospective follow‐up may not be continuously monitored and failure times are subject to interval censoring. We study the nonparametric maximum likelihood estimation for the proportional hazards model with length‐biased interval‐censored data. Direct maximization of likelihood function is intractable, thus we develop a computationally simple and stable expectation‐maximization algorithm through introducing two layers of data augmentation. We establish the strong consistency, asymptotic normality and efficiency of the proposed estimator and provide an inferential procedure through profile likelihood. We assess the performance of the proposed methods through extensive simulations and apply the proposed methods to the Massachusetts Health Care Panel Study.
Nondestructive measurement of layer structures in dielectric substrates by collimated terahertz time domain spectroscopy

This paper reports the measurement results, obtained by terahertz (THz) time-domain spectroscopy (TDS), for a dielectric substrate used in high-frequency components. The results demonstrate that the present THzTDS measurement system, which uses collimated THz waves, can be used to nondestructively observe the layer structure of the substrate. The measured layer thicknesses agree with the values obtained through cross-sectional optical micrographs of the dielectric substrate. The relative dielectric constant of the substrate is also estimated from the time-of-flight of the observed waves reflected at the front and back of the substrate surfaces.