Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
DTI segmentation by statistical surface evolution

We address the problem of the segmentation of cerebral white matter structures from diffusion tensor images (DTI). A DTI produces, from a set of diffusion-weighted MR images, tensor-valued images where each voxel is assigned with a 3 times 3 symmetric, positive-definite matrix. This second order tensor is simply the covariance matrix of a local Gaussian process, with zero-mean, modeling the average motion of water molecules. As we will show in this paper, the definition of a dissimilarity measure and statistics between such quantities is a nontrivial task which must be tackled carefully. We claim and demonstrate that, by using the theoretically well-founded differential geometrical properties of the manifold of multivariate normal distributions, it is possible to improve the quality of the segmentation results obtained with other dissimilarity measures such as the Euclidean distance or the Kullback-Leibler divergence. The main goal of this paper is to prove that the choice of the probability metric, i.e., the dissimilarity measure, has a deep impact on the tensor statistics and, hence, on the achieved results. We introduce a variational formulation, in the level-set framework, to estimate the optimal segmentation of a DTI according to the following hypothesis: Diffusion tensors exhibit a Gaussian distribution in the different partitions. We must also respect the geometric constraints imposed by the interfaces existing among the cerebral structures and detected by the gradient of the DTI. We show how to express all the statistical quantities for the different probability metrics. We validate and compare the results obtained on various synthetic data-sets, a biological rat spinal cord phantom and human brain DTIs
The Effect of Photodynamic Action on Two Virulence Factors of Gram‐negative Bacteria ¶

Photodynamic therapy could provide an alternative to antibiotics for the treatment of local infections since a wide range of microorganisms have been shown to be susceptible to killing by photodynamic action (PDA) in vitro. The purpose of this study was to determine whether PDA was also able to affect the potency of two key bacterial virulence factors—lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and proteases. Suspensions of LPS from Escherichia coli and culture supernatants containing proteases of Pseudomonas aeruginosa were exposed to red light in the presence of toluidine blue O (TBO). The activity of each virulence factor was determined before and after irradiation. The limulus amoebocyte lysate (LAL) assay and the induction of proinflammatory cytokine (interleukin‐8 and ‐6) release from human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were used for assessing the biological activity of LPS. Protease activity was quantified by azocasein hydrolysis. The biological activities of the LPS (both the LAL activity and its ability to induce cytokine release from PBMC) and the proteases were reduced significantly by irradiation with red light in the presence of TBO in a dose‐dependent manner with respect to both the light energy dose and the TBO concentration. The ability of TBO‐mediated PDA to reduce the activities of key virulence factors may be an additional benefit of using light‐activated antimicrobial agents in the treatment of infectious diseases.
Validation of a bulk tank milk antibody ELISA to detect dairy herds likely infected with bovine viral diarrhoea virus in New Zealand

Abstract AIMS: To assess the sensitivity and specificity of a bulk tank milk (BTM) antibody enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) to detect likely infection of a dairy herd with bovine vi- ral diarrhoea virus (BVDV). The ELISA was subsequently used to estimate the prevalence of likely infected herds in parts of the North Island of New Zealand. METHODS: BTM samples from 724 randomly selected dairy herds in the Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Northland regions of New Zealand were tested for BVDV antibodies. From this group, 20 herds were again randomly selected from each of the quartiles of the ELISA percentage inhibition (%INH) result. From each participant herd, serum from 15 randomly selected calves aged 6–18 months and 15 cows was collected and tested using an indirect blocking ELISA for BVDV antibodies. RESULTS: Among serum results from calves from 50 herds available for analysis, 34 (68%) herds were classified as likely non-infected (0-3 seropositive among 15 calves) and 16 (32%) as likely infected (5–15 seropositive among 15 calves). Receiver- operator characteristic (ROC) analysis identified an optimal cut-off for BTM of 80%INH associated with 81% sensitivity and 91% specificity for likely herd infection. The prevalence of BVDV antibodies in cows within herds and %INH for BVDV in bulk milk were positively correlated (p<0.01). The association between bulk milk %INH and the prevalence of BVDV antibodies in calves was stronger than the same association in cows. Based on the threshold of 80%INH, the 95% confidence interval (CI) for prevalence of likely infection in the 724 herds in the Waikato, Bay of Plenty and Northland regions of New Zealand was 12–17%. Vaccination against BVDV was not significantly associated with the likely infection status of the herd based on prevalence of BVDV antibodies among calves. CONCLUSION: An ELISA test result for BVDV antibodies in BTM ≥80%INH can be used as a threshold to indicate the presence of likely infection with BVDV in dairy herds in New Zealand, with 81% sensitivity and 91% specificity.
Fallacious Liaisons: Near Multicolinearity and “Classical Suppressors,” Aid Policies, and Growth

This paper shows that a multiple regression with two highly correlated explanatory variables, both of them with a near zero correlation with the dependent variable may correspond to a spurious regression or to a homeostatic model, with estimates highly sensible to outliers. The regression method does not allow how to decide which one of the two models is relevant. Statistical significance of the (very high) parameters is easily obtained, as shown doing Monte Carlo simulations. An example is provided by the Burnside and Dollar [2000] article on aid, policies and growth. Classification JEL: C12, C18, C52, F35, O47
Sliding Mode Control of a Redundant Robot Arm in Motion Planning Subject to Joint Space Constraints

Influenced by research in biomechanics engineers attempt to achieve motion flexibility of the robot arm similar to that of a human hand motion. For this purpose the design of modern robot arms most often provides redundant degrees of freedom in executing the assigned tasks in world space. Typical industrial applications of robots involve motion planning subject to constraints in joint space. In the general case additional static constraints in world space can also be mapped into admissible ranges of variation of the joint variables. This paper presents a mathematical model for redundant robot motion control in case of hard constraints on the displacements in the joints. The novelty in this model is the application of sliding mode theory based on the separation of the immutable geometrical artefacts in path planning from the changes in the actual robot motion. This allows to replace the traditionally heavy optimization procedures used with redundant robot arms by computationally efficient and intuitive vector space methods. The sliding mode of control is seamlessly embedded in a uniform kinematic path control algorithm and it is activated only when needed. Unlike existing methods, the sliding mode for motion control in case of constraints on the joint variables can execute concurrently with other forms motion control.
The Micro-Costing Approach to Foster the Effectiveness of Decision-Making Processes in the Healthcare System–Some Empirical Evidence from the Piedmont Region

The study aims to highlight the usefulness of micro accounting approach as tool of clinical governance starting from the data provided by the computerization of services and medical records. The case study takes into account data collected over two years between three departments of the same hospital for the management of patients with acute gastric ulcer with bleeding and variations and acute duodenal ulcer with bleeding and variations. All statistical analyses were performed using STATA V.14. 2 (Stata Corp, College Station, Texas, USA, 2013) and p value <0.05 was considered significant for all analyses. The analysis of economic and comorbidity data provides useful insights to guide the choice of the treatment pathway between departments, and provides useful indications for the redefinition of guidelines towards a rationalization of healthcare expenditure.
Extracting neurophysiological signals reflecting users' emotional and affective responses to BCI use: A systematic literature review.

BACKGROUND Brain-computer interfaces (BCIs) allow persons with impaired mobility to communicate and interact with the environment, supporting goal-directed thinking and cognitive function. Ideally, a BCI should be able to recognize a user's internal state and adapt to it in real-time, to improve interaction. OBJECTIVE Our aim was to examine studies investigating the recognition of affective states from neurophysiological signals, evaluating how current achievements can be applied to improve BCIs. METHODS Following the PRISMA guidelines, we performed a literature search using PubMed and ProQuest databases. We considered peer-reviewed research articles in English, focusing on the recognition of emotions from neurophysiological signals in view of enhancing BCI use. RESULTS Of the 526 identified records, 30 articles comprising 32 studies were eligible for review. Their analysis shows that the affective BCI field is developing, with a variety of combinations of neuroimaging techniques, selected neurophysiological features, and classification algorithms currently being tested. Nevertheless, there is a gap between laboratory experiments and their translation to everyday situations. CONCLUSIONS BCI developers should focus on testing emotion classification with patients in ecological settings and in real-time, with more precise definitions of what they are investigating, and communicating results in a standardized way.
The Effect of Unemployment by Age Cohorts and Gender on Economic Growth in Turkey

This study aims to investigate the effect of unemployment by age cohorts and gender on economic growth (The Okun’s law relationship) in Turkey for the period 2004-2014. The empirical results confirm the validity of the law for the period under discussion and assert that Okun’s coefficient varies by age cohorts and gender. Besides, the results suggest that the sensitivity of economic growth to unemployment becomes larger as age increases. In addition to this, it is concluded that that the contractionary effect of male unemployment on the economy is higher than female unemployment.
The Impact of Sanctions for Young Welfare Recipients on Transitions to Work and Wages and on Dropping Out

The reintegration of young welfare recipients into the labor market is a major policy goal in many European countries. In this context monitoring and sanctions are important policy tools. In this paper, we analyze the impact of strict sanctions on job search outcomes for young welfare recipients in Germany. The German benefit system is characterized by harsh sanctions for this group. Strict sanctions effectively take away the benefits for three months if young welfare recipients do not comply with their job search requirements. We jointly analyze the impact of these sanctions on job search outcomes and on dropping out of the labor force based on administrative data on a large inflow sample of young male jobseekers into welfare. We estimate multivariate duration models taking selection based on unobservables into account. Our results indicate that there is a trade off between an increased job entry rate and an increased withdrawal from the labor force as well as lower entry wages. Sanctions increase the probability of finding a job, but these jobs go along with lower earnings. Moreover, sanctions significantly increase the probability of dropping out.
Lack of motivation for treatment associated with greater care needs and psychosocial problems

Objective: To compare the care needs and severity of psychosocial problems in older patients with severe mental illness (SMI) between those who were and were not motivated for treatment. Methods: Cross-sectional study in which we enrolled 141 outpatients with SMI aged 55 and older. Needs were measured using the Camberwell Assessment of Needs for the Elderly, and psychosocial problems with the Health of the Nation Outcome Scale 65+. Motivation for treatment was assessed using a motivation-for-change scale. Parametric and non-parametric tests were used to analyze differences between motivated and non-motivated patients. Explorative logistic regression analyses were used to establish, which unmet needs were associated with motivation. Results: Less-motivated patients had greater unmet care needs and more psychosocial problems than those who were motivated. Logistic regression analyses showed that lack of motivation was associated with greater unmet needs regarding daytime activities, psychotic symptoms, behavioral problems, and addiction problems. Conclusions: Lack of treatment motivation was associated with more unmet needs and more severe psychosocial problems. Further research will be needed to identify other factors associated with motivation in older people with SMI and to investigate whether this group of patient benefits from interventions such as assertive outreach, integrated care or treatment-adherence therapy.
RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN INFERRED LEVELS OF GENE FLOW AND GEOGRAPHIC DISTANCE IN A PHILOPATRIC CORAL, BALANOPHYLLIA ELEGANS

When the dispersal capability of a species is considerably less than its geographic range, genetic differences between populations should increase with the distance separating those populations. This pattern should be most evident in linearly distributed species. The sessile solitary cup coral Balanophyllia elegans lives along nearly the entire Pacific coast of North America, yet its crawling larvae usually settle within 40 cm of their birthplace. In this paper, I document geographic patterns of allozyme differentiation within and among populations of B. elegans and estimate the proportion of observed geographic pattern attributable to gene flow between adjacent populations. Genetic subdivision among localities separated by up to 3000 km was high (FST = 0.283, SE = 0.038). Inferred gene flow between pairs of localities ( M∘ , individuals per generation) correlated inversely with the geographic distance between those localities, consistent with the pattern expected for a species at equilibrium in which gene flow occurred exclusively between adjacent localities. Within localities, patches separated by 4 to 30 m were also significantly subdivided, but genetic differentiation between patches did not vary significantly with the distance separating them. Simulations revealed that the power to detect genetic pattern expected from gene flow between adjacent populations increased with both the number of loci used to infer gene flow and the heterozygosity of those loci. Simulations also verified that when geographic distance poorly approximated the number of steps between populations, reduced major‐axis regression more accurately portrayed the structural relationship between gene flow and separation than did ordinary least‐squares regression. Attenuation of gene flow with distance explained 15% of the between‐locality pattern of genetic differentiation in B. elegans. The remaining variation appeared to be due to neither natural selection nor a recent rangewide recolonization. Loci from the northern sampled localities, however, had fewer alleles than those from the remainder of the range, suggesting these localities had been recolonized recently following Pleistocene cooling.
O2 and Ca(2+) fluxes as indicators of apoptosis induced by rose bengal-mediated photodynamic therapy in human oral squamous carcinoma cells.

OBJECTIVE Photodynamic therapy (PDT) triggers various cellular responses and induces cell death via necrosis and/or apoptosis. This study evaluated the feasibility of using O2 and Ca(2+) fluxes as indicators of apoptosis induced by rose bengal (RB)-mediated PDT in human oral squamous carcinoma cells (Cal27 cells). METHODS Intracellular reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation was assessed by the dichloro-dihydro-fluorescein diacetate (DCFH-DA) method. Real-time O2 and Ca(2+) flux measurements were performed using the noninvasive micro-test technique (NMT). Apoptosis of the PDT-treated cells was confirmed by 4'6-diamidino-2-phenylindole-dilactate staining. The activation of apoptosis-related molecules was examined using Western blot. We assayed the effects of the fluctuation of O2 and Ca(2+) flux in response to PDT and the apoptotic mechanism, by which ROS, O2, and Ca(2+) synergistically may trigger apoptosis in PDT-treated cells. RESULTS Real-time O2 and Ca(2+) flux measurements revealed that these indicators were involved in the timely regulation of apoptosis in the PDT-treated cells and were activated 2 h after PDT treatment. RB-mediated PDT significantly elicited the generation of ROS by approximately threefold, which was critical for PDT-induced apoptosis. Cytochrome c and cleaved caspase-3, caspase-9 and poly ADP ribose polymerase (PARP) were overexpressed, and the data provided evidence that 2 h was considered to be the key observation time in RB-mediated PDT-induced apoptosis in Cal27 cells. CONCLUSIONS Our collective results indicated that the effects of O2 and Ca(2+) fluxes may act as a real-time biomonitoring system of apoptosis in the RB-PDT-treated cells. Also, RB-mediated PDT can be a potential and effective therapeutic modality in oral squamous cell carcinoma.
Abnormal expression of the G‐protein‐activated inwardly rectifying potassium channel 2 (GIRK2) in hippocampus, frontal cortex, and substantia nigra of Ts65Dn mouse: A model of Down syndrome

Ts65Dn, a mouse model of Down syndrome (DS), demonstrates abnormal hippocampal synaptic plasticity and behavioral abnormalities related to spatial learning and memory. The molecular mechanisms leading to these impairments have not been identified. In this study, we focused on the G‐protein‐activated inwardly rectifying potassium channel 2 (GIRK2) gene that is highly expressed in the hippocampus region. We studied the expression pattern of GIRK subunits in Ts65Dn and found that GIRK2 was overexpressed in all analyzed Ts65Dn brain regions. Interestingly, elevated levels of GIRK2 protein in the Ts65Dn hippocampus and frontal cortex correlated with elevated levels of GIRK1 protein. This suggests that heteromeric GIRK1‐GIRK2 channels are overexpressed in Ts65Dn hippocampus and frontal cortex, which could impair excitatory input and modulate spike frequency and synaptic kinetics in the affected regions. All GIRK2 splicing isoforms examined were expressed at higher levels in the Ts65Dn in comparison to the diploid hippocampus. The pattern of GIRK2 expression in the Ts65Dn mouse brain revealed by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry was similar to that previously reported in the rodent brain. However, in the Ts65Dn mouse a strong immunofluorescent staining of GIRK2 was detected in the lacunosum molecular layer of the CA3 area of the hippocampus. In addition, tyrosine hydroxylase containing dopaminergic neurons that coexpress GIRK2 were more numerous in the substantia nigra compacta and ventral tegmental area in the Ts65Dn compared to diploid controls. In summary, the regional localization and the increased brain levels coupled with known function of the GIRK channel may suggest an important contribution of GIRK2 containing channels to Ts65Dn and thus to DS neurophysiological phenotypes. J. Comp. Neurol. 494:815–833, 2006. Published 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
An 80MHz modulation bandwidth high efficiency multi-band envelope-tracking power amplifier using GaN single-phase buck-converter

We report a high efficiency multi-band Envelope-Tracking Power Amplifier (ET-PA) that supports modulation bandwidth up to 80MHz using real-time digital predistortion (RT-DPD). The ET-PA consists of a broadband RF-PA and a singlephase buck-converter. The RF-PA has maximum PAE over 50% from 0.7 to 2.1GHz in CW measurements. The buck-converter operates at 245.76MHz switching frequency, and attains 78% PAE for modulated signals with 6.5dB PAPR. Both RF-PA and buckconverter were fabricated using a GaN HEMT process. The RT-DPD system can generate the input signals for both buck-converter and RF-PA, and capture the output signal for feedback. An FPGA is employed in the RT-DPD system to perform predistortion in a closed-loop fashion. The overall ET-PA achieves total efficiency of 32.1–35.5%, output power of 30–30.7dBm with 30V supply voltage over 0.9–2.15GHz. By using the RT-DPD, ACLR is improved to below −45dBc even under 80MHz modulated LTE signal with 6.5dB PAPR, maintaining high efficiency. To the authors' best knowledge, this is the widest modulation bandwidth yet reported for an efficient and multi-band ET-PA.
Antibodies to cytoplasmic dynein heavy chain map the surface and inhibit motility.

Polyclonal antibodies have been raised against four 16 residue peptides with sequences taken from the C-terminal quarter of the human cytoplasmic dynein heavy chain. The sites are downstream from a known microtubule-binding domain associated with the "stalk" that protrudes from the motor domain. The antisera were assayed using bacterially expressed proteins with amino acid sequences taken from the human cytoplasmic dynein heavy chain. Every antiserum reacted specifically with the appropriate expressed protein and with pig brain cytoplasmic dynein, whether the protein molecules were denatured on Western blots or were in a folded state. But, whereas three of the four antisera recognized freshly purified cytoplasmic dynein, the fourth reacted only with dynein that had been allowed to denature a little. After affinity purification against the expressed domains, whole IgG molecules and Fab fragments were assayed for their effect on dynein activity in in vitro microtubule-sliding assays. Of the three anti-peptides that reacted with fresh dynein, one inhibited motility but the others did not. The way these peptides are exposed on the surface is compatible with a model whereby the dynein motor domain is constructed from a ring of AAA protein modules, with the C-terminal module positioned on the surface that interacts with microtubules. We have tentatively identified an additional AAA module in the dynein heavy chain sequence, which would be consistent with a heptameric ring.
Canine Parvoviral Disease: Experimental Reproduction of the Enteric Form with a Parvovirus Isolated from a Case of Myocarditis

Five 7-week-old pups and four 4-week-old pups, all seronegative to canine parvovirus, were inoculated intravenously with 1000 haemagglutinating units of canine parvovirus originally isolated from the myocardium of a dog with naturally occurring myocarditis. After three days, pups in both litters became pyrexic, anorectic and depressed, with vomiting and diarrhoea. The 4-week-old pups were killed on day 4, and the 7-week-old pups died or were killed on day 5 post-inoculation. Histological examination showed degeneration and necrosis of intestinal crypt epithelial cells and villous atrophy. All pups had thymic atrophy caused by lymphoid depletion. Peyer's patches, mesenteric lymph node and spleen also had lymphoid depletion. Lymphoid necrosis was present occasionally in these tissues. In the bone marrow, granulocytes and granulocyte and erythroid precursors were depleted. Amphophilic intranuclear inclusion bodies were abundant in crypt epithelial nuclei, less so in myocardial nuclei. Canine parvovirus was isolated from intestinal contents, thymus, spleen, mesenteric lymph node and liver in most pups, but not from kidney or myocardium.