Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
phMRI, neurochemical and behavioral responses to psychostimulants distinguishing genetically selected alcohol‐preferring from genetically heterogenous rats

Alcoholism is often associated with other forms of drug abuse, suggesting that innate predisposing factors may confer vulnerability to addiction to diverse substances. However, the neurobiological bases of these factors remain unknown. Here, we have used a combination of imaging, neurochemistry and behavioral techniques to investigate responses to the psychostimulant amphetamine in Marchigian Sardinian (msP) alcohol‐preferring rats, a model of vulnerability to alcoholism. Specifically, we employed pharmacological magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the neural circuits engaged by amphetamine challenge, and to relate functional reactivity to neurochemical and behavioral responses. Moreover, we studied self‐administration of cocaine in the msP rats. We found stronger functional responses in the extended amygdala, alongside with increased release of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens shell and augmented vertical locomotor activity compared with controls. Wistar and msP rats did not differ in operant cocaine self‐administration under short access (2 hours) conditions, but msP rats exhibited a higher propensity to escalate drug intake following long access (6 hours). Our findings suggest that neurobiological and genetic mechanisms that convey vulnerability to excessive alcohol drinking also facilitate the transition from psychostimulants use to abuse.
A systematic review of the survival and complication rates of zirconia‐ceramic and metal‐ceramic multiple‐unit fixed dental prostheses

OBJECTIVES The aim of the present review was to compare the outcomes, that is, survival and complication rates of zirconia-ceramic and/or monolithic zirconia implant-supported fixed dental prostheses (FDPs) with metal-ceramic FDPs. MATERIALS AND METHODS An electronic MEDLINE search complemented by manual searching was conducted to identify randomized controlled clinical trials, prospective cohort studies and retrospective case series on implant-supported FDPs with a mean follow-up of at least 3 years. Patients had to have been examined clinically at the follow-up visit. Assessment of the identified studies and data extraction was performed independently by two reviewers. Failure and complication rates were analyzed using robust Poisson regression models to obtain summary estimates of 5-year proportions. RESULTS The search provided 5,263 titles and 455 abstracts. Full-text analysis was performed for 240 articles resulting in 19 studies on implant FDPs that met the inclusion criteria. The studies reported on 932 metal-ceramic and 175 zirconia-ceramic FDPs. Meta-analysis revealed an estimated 5-year survival rate of 98.7% (95% CI: 96.8%-99.5%) for metal-ceramic implant-supported FDPs, and of 93.0% (95% CI: 90.6%-94.8%) for zirconia-ceramic implant-supported FDPs (p < 0.001). Thirteen studies including 781 metal-ceramic implant-supported FDPs estimated a 5-year rate of ceramic fractures and chippings to be 11.6% compared with a significantly higher (p < 0.001) complication rate for zirconia implant-supported FDPs of 50%, reported in a small study with 13 zirconia implant-supported FDPs. Significantly (p = 0.001) more, that is, 4.1%, of the zirconia-ceramic implant-supported FDPs were lost due to ceramic fractures compared to only 0.2% of the metal-ceramic implant-supported FDPs. Detailed analysis of factors like number of units of the FDPs or location in the jaws was not possible due to heterogeneity of reporting. No studies on monolithic zirconia implant-supported FDPs fulfilled the inclusion criteria of the present review. Furthermore, no conclusive results were found for the aesthetic outcomes of both FDP-types. CONCLUSION For implant-supported FDPs, conventionally veneered zirconia should not be considered as material selection of first priority, as pronounced risk for framework fractures and chipping of the zirconia veneering ceramic was observed. Monolithic zirconia may be an interesting alternative, but its clinical medium- to long-term outcomes have not been evaluated yet. Hence, metal ceramics seems to stay the golden standard for implant-supported multiple-unit FDPs.
Single Low Dose of Human Recombinant Antithrombin (Atryn®) Has no Impact on Endotoxin-induced Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation: An Experimental Randomized Open Label Controlled Study.

BACKGROUND Antithrombin III physiological levels are decreased during septic shock, and supplementation therapy could therefore be beneficial. OBJECTIVE We hypothesized that the use of recombinant human antithrombin could reduce Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (DIC) occurrence. METHODS We conducted a randomized open label controlled experimental study. Ten female "Large White" pigs were challenged with intravenous infusion of E.coli endotoxin. Two groups of five pigs were randomly assigned to receive either recombinant human antithrombin 100 U/kg over 30 minutes [ATryn group] or 0.9% saline [control group]. Antithrombin III levels, coagulation, hemostasis, inflammation parameters, hemodynamics and microcirculatory parameters were measured over a 5-h period. Immediately after euthanasia, kidneys were withdrawn for histology evaluation. Statistical analysis was performed with non-parametric tests and Dunn's test for multiple comparisons. RESULTS AT III activity was significantly higher in the ATryn group than in the control group from 60% (213 [203-223] vs 104% [98-115], p = 0.008, respectively) to 300 minutes (115% [95-124] vs 79% [67-93], p = 0.03). Recombinant human antithrombin supplementation had no impact on hemodynamics, microcirculatory parameters and sequential changes of coagulation parameters (platelet count, fibrinogen level, thrombin-antithrombin complexes and von Willebrand factor). Interleukin 6 and Tumor Necrosis Factor alpha values were statistically the same for both groups throughout the study. Percentage of thrombosed glomeruli and percentage of thrombosed capillary in glomerulus were not significantly different between both groups. CONCLUSIONS In our model of endotoxic shock, a single low dose of recombinant human Antithrombin did not prevent Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation occurrence, severity, inflammatory profile or hemodynamic alterations.
Globalisation, China's Recent Miracle Growth and Its Limits

China has stunted the world with its two-digit or near-two-digit growth in the recent decades. This has been unprecedented in the past 200 years of the country’s history, Mao’s era of 1949 to 1976 included. In the process, China has overtaken Germany as the third largest economy in aggregates in 2008. Now, China has surpassed Japan and become the second largest economy in the world. The Chinese economy has been transformed from a poor and closed economy to an open one with a medium income on the world average. China’s current economic structure in terms of employment pattern and urbanisation has been radically altered, too. Much of China’s new growth has been generated by foreign trade. From 1978 to 2000, the total value of China’s foreign trade increased explosively, (110 times, from RMB ¥35.5 billion to RMB ¥3,927.3 billion, current prices), faster than any other parameter of the economy. However, the question of sustainability looms large as China moves on. The growth of the economy has been based on heavy inputs of cheap labour, cheap materials and easily available foreign capital. So far, the Chinese industrial wage has been about one-tenth of the US level. In 2004, with over US$ 60 billion of foreign capital invested, China surpassed the United States and became the largest FDI recipient in the world. Any change in the relative prices among the three factors may slow China’s growth down. Moreover, China has adopted a supply-driven model to sell its manufactures worldwide. These have made China highly depended on the world market for inputs (capital and materials) and output sales: it exports about 40 percent of its GDP and about 70 percent of the economy is linked to exports. As much as 90 percent of China’s exports are manufactures. Unless the outside demand for China-made goods maintained at the same speed as China’s exports, the market may no clear itself. Then China faces the problem of over-production, not to mention the environmental implications of an input-intensive model that China operates. Last but not the least, there is an issue of political stability in relation to the ongoing problem of social inequality and official corruption. It is not unheard of that inequality and corruption slow down economic growth. ‘China exceptionalism’ may not last for too long. 9
Testing of parallel programs based on primitive dependence graph

Because of the nondeterministic timing ordering behavior of parallel primitives, testing of parallel programs is more difficult than that of serial programs. In this paper, we present a new testing strategy for parallel programs---static testing of parallel programs with their primitive dependence graphs. We have developed methods to analyze the timing ordering dependences between primitives and to construct primitive dependence graph. Approaches for static detecting errors with primitive dependence graph have also been discussed. <<ETX>>
Myocardial infarction following fast-track total hip and knee arthroplasty—incidence, time course, and risk factors: a prospective cohort study of 24,862 procedures

Background and purpose — Acute myocardial infarction (MI) is a leading cause of mortality following total hip and knee arthroplasty (THA/TKA). The reported 30-day incidence of MI varies from 0.3% to 0.9%. However, most data derive from administration and insurance databases or large RCTs with potential confounding factors. We studied the incidence of and potential modifiable risk factors for postoperative MI in a large, multicenter optimized “fast-track” THA/TKA setting. Patients and methods — A prospective cohort study was conducted on consecutive unselected elective primary unilateral THA and TKA, using prospective information on comorbidities and complete 90-day follow-up from the Danish National Patient Registry. Evaluation of discharge summaries and medical records was undertaken in cases of suspected MI. Logistic regression analyses were carried out for identification of preoperative risk factors. Results — Of 24,862 procedures with a median length of stay 2 (IQR 2–3) days, 30- and 90-day incidence of MI was 31 (0.12%) and 48 (0.19%). Preoperative risk factors for MI ≤30 days were age >85 years (OR 7.4, 95% CI 2.3–24), insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) (3.6, CI 1.1–12), cardiovascular disease (2.4, CI 1.1–5.0) and hypercholesterolemia (2.3, CI 1.1–5.1). Of 31 patients with MI ≤30 days 9 were treated with vasopressors for intraoperative hypotension and 27 had postoperative anemia. Interpretation — Fast-track THA and TKA had a low 30-day MI incidence. Focus on patients with age >85, IDDM, cardiovascular disease, and hypercholesterolemia may further reduce the 30-day incidence of MI. The role of postoperative anemia and intraoperative hypotension are other areas for further improvement
An adaptive virtual reality system for the treatment of adjustment disorder and complicated grief: 1-year follow-up efficacy data.

Adjustment disorder (AD) and complicated grief (CG) are serious mental conditions that have a high prevalence and are associated with significant impairments in social and work functioning. Recently, these categories have been better specified in the new ICD-11 proposal. Empirical research on the efficacy of treatments for these problems is scarce. This study aims to offer long-term efficacy data from a between-groups controlled study that compares two treatment conditions (AD-protocol applied in a traditional way: N = 18 and the same protocol supported by virtual reality (VR); VR-protocol applied in a traditional way: N = 18) and a waiting list (WL) control group (N = 18). Both treatment conditions resulted in statistically significant improvements on both primary and secondary outcome measures, with large effect sizes, and this improvement did not occur in the WL. These changes were maintained in both treatment conditions in the medium (6-month) and long-term (12-month follow-up). Larger effect sizes were achieved in the VR condition in the long term. Furthermore, clinically significant change estimations on the primary outcome measures showed an advantage for the VR condition This is the first controlled study to compare a traditional face-to-face protocol for the treatment of stress-related disorders with the same protocol supported by VR and a WL control group.
Cryptanalysis and Improvement on an Image Encryption Algorithm Design Using a Novel Chaos Based S-Box

This article performs the cryptanalysis of an image encryption algorithm using an S-box generated by chaos. The algorithm has the advantages of simple structure, high encryption efficiency, and good encryption performance. However, an attentive investigation reveals that it has some undiscovered security flaws. The image cryptosystem is totally breakable under proposed chosen-plaintext attack, and only two chosen plain-images are required. An array equivalent to the S-box is constructed by an elaborately designed chosen-plaintext image, and the cipher-image is deciphered without having to know the S-box itself. Both mathematical deduction and experimental results validate the feasibility of the attacking scheme. Furthermore, an improved encryption scheme is proposed, in which a feedback mechanism is introduced, a bidirectional diffusion scheme is designed, and values of the ciphertext are associated with more parameters in each diffusion process. Testing results and security analysis verify that the improved cryptographic system can achieve a higher security level and has a better performance than some of the latest encryption algorithms.
Modified student's t-hidden Markov model for pattern recognition and classification

The Gaussian hidden Markov model has been successfully used in pattern recognition and classification applications; however, recently the Student's t-mixture model is regarded as an alternative to Gaussian mixture models, as it is more robust for outliers. The model using Student's t-mixture distribution as its hidden state is the Student's t-hidden Markov model (SHMM). The authors propose a novel Student's t-hidden Markov model, which considers the relationship among Markov states, latent components and observations by introducing a regularising scalar exponent in the component densities of the model's emission densities. Moreover, the standard SHMM can be considered as a special case of the modified SHMM with the selection of proper parameter values. Finally, the authors adopt the gradient method to estimate optimal weight parameters. Simultaneously, the expectation–maximisation algorithm is used to fit the modified SHMM. Thus, our model is simple and easy to implement. The experimental results using synthetic and real data demonstrate the improved robustness of the proposed approach.
Motifs corr\'el\'es rares : Caract\'erisation et nouvelles repr\'esentations concises

Recently, rare pattern mining proves to be of added-value in different data mining applications since these patterns allow conveying knowledge on rare and unexpected events. However, the extraction of rare patterns suffers from two main limits, namely the large number of mined patterns in real-life applications, as well as the low informativeness quality of several rare patterns. In this situation, we propose to use the correlation measure, bond, in the mining process in order to only retain those rare patterns having a certain degree of correlation between their respective items. A characterization of the resulting set, of rare correlated patterns, is then carried out based on the study of constraints of distinct types induced by the rarity and the correlation. In addition, based on the equivalence classes associated to a closure operator dedicated to the bond measure, we propose concise representations of rare correlated patterns. We then design a new algorithm CRP_Miner dedicated to the extraction of the whole set of rare correlated patterns. We also introduce the CRPR_Miner algorithm allowing an efficient extraction of the proposed concise representations. In addition, we design two other algorithms which allow to us the query and the regeneration of the whole set of rare correlated patterns. The carried out experimental studies show the effectiveness of the algorithm CRPR_Miner and prove the compactness rate offered by the proposed concise representations.
Chitosan-Based Extrafibrillar Demineralization for Dentin Bonding

Instability of resin-dentin bonds is the Achilles’ heel of adhesive dentistry. To address this problem, a chelate-and-rinse extrafibrillar dentin demineralization strategy has been developed that keeps intrafibrillar minerals within collagen fibrils intact to prevent activation of endogenous proteases that are responsible for collagen degradation within hybrid layers. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the potential of using chitosan >40 kDa as an antimicrobial extrafibrillar dentin-chelating agent to enhance bond durability. Transmission electron microscopy provided evidence for retention of intrafibrillar minerals and smear plugs in dentin conditioned with 1 wt% chitosan. Analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis analysis of variance, Dunn’s statistic, and separate Mann-Whitney tests, tensile bond strengths to wet- and dry-bonded dentin indicated that chelating dentin with chitosan for 60 s prior to bonding did not result in a significant decline in resin-dentin bond strength when compared with that of phosphoric acid etching (P > 0.05). Gelatinolytic activity within the hybrid layers was examined via in situ zymography after 24-h storage or after thermomechanical cycling and analyzed with 3-factor analysis of variance. After 24 h, enzymatic activity was detected only within completely demineralized phosphoric acid–etched dentin, with values derived from dry bonding significantly higher than those derived from wet bonding (P < 0.05). Negligible fluorescence was detected within hybrid layers when dentin was conditioned with chitosan, even after thermomechanical cycling, as compared with the controls. Reduction in water permeability in chitosan-conditioned dentin, attributed to smear plug retention, also fostered long-term bond stability. Antibacterial testing performed with live/dead staining indicated that the acetic acid–solubilized chitosan possessed antibacterial activities against 3 single-species biofilms: Streptococcus mutans, Actinomyces naeslundii, and Enterococcus faecalis. Taken together, the new chitosan-based extrafibrillar demineralization strategy retains intrafibrillar minerals, reduces endogenous protease-initiated collagen degradation, prevents water permeation within hybrid layers, and kills bacteria on dentin surfaces, which are crucial factors for enhancing resin-dentin bond durability.
Retinal imaging with optical coherence tomography and low‐loss adaptive optics using a 2.8‐mm beam size

As data acquisition for retinal imaging with optical coherence tomography (OCT) becomes faster, efficient collection of photons becomes more important to maintain image quality. One approach is to use a larger aperture at the eye's pupil to collect more photons that have been reflected from the retina. A 2.8‐mm beam diameter system with only seven reflecting surfaces was developed for low‐loss retinal imaging. The larger beam size requires defocus and astigmatism correction, which was done in a closed loop adaptive optics method using a Shack‐Hartmann wavefront sensor and a deformable mirror (DM) with 140 actuators and a ±2.75 μm stroke. This DM facilitates defocus correction ranging from approximately −3 D to +3 D. Comparing the new system with a standard 1.2‐mm system on a model eye, a signal‐to‐noise gain of 4.5 dB and a 2.3 times smaller speckle size were measured. Measurements on the retinas of five subjects showed even better results, with increases in dynamic range up to 13 dB. Note that the new sample arm only occupies 30 cm × 60 cm, which makes it highly suitable for imaging in a clinical environment.
Compressive sensing via sparse difference and fractal and entropy recognition for mass spectrometry sensing data

This study presents a novel compressive sensing (CS) framework to solve the high dimensional mass spectrometry (MS) signal processing in Bioinformatics. As a hot research topic, CS has attracted a great deal of attention in many fields. In theory, high sparsity is one precondition for any CS framework. However, in Bioinformatics, one application bottleneck is that only a few MS data can be considered as sparse. So sparse representation (SR) become necessary. However, this will create a new problem that the SR computation cost will be too huge to MS signal because of its high data dimensionality (usually tens of thousands or more). Therefore the authors propose theconcept ofsparse difference (SD) to realise a new CS framework. Firstly, it canacquire the prior MS information through fractal and entropy recognition. Secondly, the original signal can be perfectly recovered by SD based on the previous recognition result. The feasibility and validity of this CS framework isproved by experiments.
Misdiagnosis of Thoracolumbar Posterior Ligamentous Complex Injuries and Use of Radiographic Parameter Correlations to Improve Detection Accuracy

Study Design Retrospective study. Purpose To evaluate radiological parameters as indicators for posterior ligamentous complex (PLC) injuries in the case of limited availability of magnetic resonance imaging. Overview of Literature Traumatic thoracolumbar spinal fractures with PLC injuries can be misdiagnosed on X-rays or computed tomography scans. This study aimed to retrospectively assess unrecognized PLC injuries and evaluate radiographic parameters as indicators of PLC injuries requiring surgery. Methods In total, 314 patients with type A and type B2 fractures who underwent surgical treatment between 2001 and 2010 were included. The frequency of misdiagnosis was reassessed, and radiographic parameters were evaluated and correlated. Results The average age of the patients was 51.8 years. There were 225 type A3/A4 and 89 type B2 fractures; 39 of the type B2 fractures (43.8%) had been misdiagnosed as type A fractures. Type B fractures presented with a significantly higher kyphotic wedge angle and Cobb angle and a lower sagittal index (SI) than type A fractures. In addition, the normalized interspinous distance was higher in type B2 fractures. The significant mathematical indicators for PLC injuries were as follows: Cobb angle+kyphotic wedge angle >29°; Cobb angle2 >170°; and vertebral angle/SI >25. Conclusions The results demonstrated that PLC injuries are frequently misdiagnosed. Correlations between certain radiological parameters associated with PLC injuries can be useful indicators of the presence of such injuries requiring surgery.
A Simple Environment for Research in Speciation

In this paper we discuss an environment that we’ve developed in order to investigate the replication of speciation in evolutionary computation (EC). There are many versions of EC that have some characteristics of speciation, but none that match natural processes. In an effort to develop such a form of EC, we’ve created a simple model that can be used to experiment with EC and environments that may result in natural speciation. Our goal for speciation is to have a single population eventually become two populations that are reproductively isolated even though they reside in the same environment. At this point we’ve developed the model and have completed experiments that show it is a viable environment for the exploration of speciation by replicating adaptation, survival of the fittest, and migration of a population.