Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Performance of automated drusen detection by polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography.

PURPOSE To estimate the potential of polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) for quantitative assessment of drusen in patients with early age-related macular degeneration (AMD). METHODS Fifteen eyes from 13 patients presenting drusen consistent with Age-Related Eye Disease Study classifications (grades 2 and 3) were examined ophthalmoscopically, followed by fundus photography, autofluorescence imaging, and three-dimensional scanning using a PS-OCT. For the automated evaluation of drusen location, area, and volume, a novel segmentation algorithm was developed based on the polarization scrambling characteristics of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and applied to each complete data set. Subsequently, the drusen in each individual B-scan were identified by two independent expert graders. Concordance between manual and automated segmentation results was analyzed. Errors in the automated segmentation performance were classified as nonsignificant, moderate, or severe. RESULTS. In all, 2355 individual drusen, with a mean of 157 drusen per eye, were analyzed. Of drusen seen in the individual B-scans, 91.4% were detected manually by both expert graders. The automated segmentation algorithm identified 96.5% of all drusen without significant error. The mean difference in manual and automated drusen area (mean, 4.65 mm(2)) was 0.150. The number of detected drusen was significantly higher with automated than that with manual segmentation. PS-OCT segmentation was generally superior to fundus photography (P < 0.001). Particularly in nondetected drusen, a large variability in drusen morphology was noted. CONCLUSIONS Automated drusen detection based on PS-OCT technology allows a fast and accurate determination of drusen location, number, and total area.
Effect of food enzymes on utilisation of lupin carbohydrates by broilers

1. The effects of 3 commercial enzyme products on the nutritive value of 2 lupin species were investigated with the emphasis on changes in composition of non-starch polysaccharides (NSPs) along the digestive tract. Enzyme A contained primarily cellulase, β -glucanase and xylanase activities, enzyme B primarily hemicellulase, pentosanase and xylanase activities, and enzyme C primarily hemicellulase, pectinase and β -glucanase activities. 2. The enzymes were added to semi-purified diets based on sorghum and casein containing 35% whole seed lupins (Lupinus angustifolius cv Gungurru or Lupinus albus cv Kiev mutant). Control diets contained no lupins. 3. Food conversion ratio (FCR), excreta moisture content and apparent metabolisable energy (AME) were affected by lupin species but not by enzyme supplementation. 4. In diets with L. angustifolius, enzyme C significantly increased digesta viscosity and increased the concentration of soluble NSPs in all sections of the intestine. 5. Digestibility of protein and NSPs in the ileum and microbial fermentation in the ileum and caeca were not affected by adding enzymes to diets containing L. angustifolius. 6. Enzyme addition to diets with L. albus did not affect digesta viscosity nor concentration of soluble NSPs but caused a significantly (P <0.05) reduced concentration of insoluble NSP in the ileum. 7. Enzyme addition to L. albus significantly (P <0.05) increased NSP digestibility in the ileum but had no effects on protein digestibility and fermentation in the ileum and caeca.
Do Cultured Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells Resemble Those of the Artery Wall? If Not, Why Not?

Ultrastructural stereological techniques were used to quantitate the phenotype of vascular smooth muscle cells grown in primary culture on a plastic substrate (control), on and within matrices of collagen type I, and on collagen type III, collagen type IV, or basement membrane Matrigel. The volume fraction of myofilaments (Vv myo) of freshly isolated cells at day 0 was 54.2 ± 2.0%. By day 5 in culture, the Vv myo of cells grown on plastic, on collagen type I, and collagen type III had decreased significantly to 14.2 ± 2.1%, 16.5 ± 2.4%, and 16.3 ± 2.9%, respectively. In contrast, smooth muscle cells grown within matrices of collagen type I, on collagen type IV, or on basement membrane Matrigel had a Vv myo of 30.7 ± 1.5%, 30.8 ± 4.2%, and 32.1 ± 3.1%, respectively. These findings demonstrate that the presence of extracellular matrix components prevents modulation of smooth muscle phenotype early in culture and suggests that the extracellular matrix synthesized and secreted by smooth muscle in the normal vessel wall contributes to the maintenance of their contractile functional state.
Design considerations of SAR ADCs in CMOS technology for high speed circuit applications with a time-interleaved architecture

The time-interleaved (TI) architecture is used for ultra-high speed ADC applications. For designing a single-channel ADC for TI architecture applications, SAR ADCs becomes popular due to the features such as mostly digital logic, small chip area and power efficient etc. This paper reviews techniques for designing high-speed single-channel SAR ADCs in CMOS technology to implement a high speed ADC with TI architecture. The techniques are summarized at both the architecture and building blocks levels. Design challenges and circuit considerations are discussed. A summary of the state-of-the-art high-speed single-channel SAR ADCs are also provided.
Modeling and Fast Simulation of Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Interconnects

In this paper, several important aspects associated with the modeling and fast simulation of global multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) interconnects are studied in detail. The MWCNTs are characterized by both the multiconductor circuit (MCC) model and the simplified equivalent single conductor (ESC) model. With two different circuit models, the impacts of intershell tunneling conductance and imperfect contact resistance on electrical performance of both single and coupled MWCNT interconnects are investigated. Based on the ESC model, an efficient algorithm combining modal decoupling and delay extraction techniques is presented for fast transient simulation of MWCNT interconnects. The numerical results illustrate that different locations of imperfect contact resistance may exert apparent effects on transient response of MWCNT interconnects. Nevertheless, these effects can be reduced by intershell tunneling conductance in the MCC model. The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method are also demonstrated by the numerical examples.
Targeting the RET Pathway in Thyroid Cancer

The RET (rearranged during transfection) protooncogene encodes a single pass transmembrane receptor that is expressed in cells derived from the neural crest and the urogenital tract. As part of a cell-surface complex, RET binds glial derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) ligands in conjunction with GDNF-family α co-receptors (GFRα). Ligand-induced activation induces dimerization and tyrosine phosphorylation of the RET receptor with downstream activation of several signal transduction pathways. Activating germline RET mutations play a central role in the development of the multiple endocrine neoplasia (MEN) syndromes MEN2A, MEN2B, and familial medullary thyroid carcinoma (FMTC) and also in the development of the congenital abnormality Hirschsprung's disease. Approximately 50% of patients with sporadic MTC have somatic RET mutations, and a significant portion of papillary thyroid carcinomas result from chromosomal inversions or translocations, which activate RET (RET/PTC oncogenes). The RET protooncogene has a significant place in cancer prevention and treatment. Timely thyroidectomy in kindred members who have inherited a mutated RET allele, characteristic of MEN2A, MEN2B, or FMTC, can prevent MTC, the most common cause of death in these syndromes. Also, recently developed molecular therapeutics that target the RET pathway have shown activity in clinical trials of patients with advanced MTC, a disease for which there has been no effective therapy. (Clin Cancer Res 2009;15(23):7119–23)
Work-related outcome after acute coronary syndrome: Implications of complex cardiac rehabilitation in occupational medicine.

OBJECTIVES Coronary heart disease is frequent in the working-age population. Traditional outcomes, such as mortality and hospital readmission, are useful for evaluating prognosis. Fit-for-work is an emerging outcome with clinical as well as socioeconomic significance. We describe the possible benefit of a cardiac rehabilitation (CR) program for return to work (RTW) after acute coronary syndrome (ACS). MATERIAL AND METHODS We evaluated 204 patients with recent ACS. They were divided into 4 groups on the basis of their occupational work load: very light (VL), light (L), moderate (M), and heavy (H). Work-related outcomes were assessed with the Work Performance Scale (WPS) of the Functional Status Questionnaire and as "days missed from work" (DMW) in the previous 4 weeks. The variables considered for outcomes were percent ejection fraction, functional capacity expressed in metabolic equivalents (METs), and participation or non-participation in the CR program (CR+ and CR-). RESULTS One hundred thirty (66%) patients took part in the CR program. Total WPS scores for CR+ and CR- subgroups were VL group: 18±4 vs. 14±4 (p < 0.001), L group: 18±3 vs. 14±3 (p < 0.0001), M group: 19±3 vs. 16±3 (p < 0.003), and H group: 20±4 vs. 17±3 (p < 0.006). Fewer DMW were reported by the CR+ group. CONCLUSIONS Non-participation in CR was a consistent cause of poorer work-related outcomes. Our findings indicate that CR and occupational counseling play a very important role in worker recovery and subsequent reintegration in the workplace, in particular among clerical workers.
A comparison of Likert scale and visual analogue scales as response options in children's questionnaires

Aim: To examine which response options children prefer and which they find easiest to use, and to study the relative reliability of the different response options. Methods: A consecutive group of unselected children (n= 120) filled out three questionnaires in a paediatric outpatient clinic. Each questionnaire included seven similar questions, but had different response options: the Likert scale, the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and the numeric VAS. In general, the questions were not related to the children's particular diseases, but dealt with the frequency of simple activities, their feelings and opinions. The pages with the three different response options were offered in random order. Afterwards, the children rated their preference and ease of use of the different response options on a scale from one to 10. Results: Children preferred the Likert scale (median mark 9.0) over the numeric VAS (median mark 8.0) and the simple VAS (median 6.0). They considered the Likert scale easiest to fill out (median mark 10 vs 9 and 7.5 for the numeric and simple VAS, respectively). Results of the different response options correlated strongly with each other (rho = 0.67–0.90, p < 0.05).
External validation of a risk assessment model for venous thromboembolism in the hospitalised acutely-ill medical patient (VTE-VALOURR)

Summary Venous thromboembolic (VTE) risk assessment remains an important issue in hospitalised, acutely-ill medical patients, and several VTE risk assessment models (RAM) have been proposed. The purpose of this large retrospective cohort study was to externally validate the IMPROVE RAM using a large database of three acute care hospitals. We studied 41,486 hospitalisations (28,744 unique patients) with 1,240 VTE hospitalisations (1,135 unique patients) in the VTE cohort and 40,246 VTE-free hospitalisations (27,609 unique patients) in the control cohort. After chart review, 139 unique VTE patients were identified and 278 randomly-selected matched patients in the control cohort. Seven independent VTE risk factors as part of the RAM in the derivation cohort were identified. In the validation cohort, the incidence of VTE was 0.20%; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.18–0.22, 1.04%; 95%CI 0.88–1.25, and 4.15%; 95%CI 2.79–8.12 in the low, moderate, and high VTE risk groups, respectively, which compared to rates of 0.45%, 1.3%, and 4.74% in the three risk categories of the derivation cohort. For the derivation and validation cohorts, the total percentage of patients in low, moderate and high VTE risk occurred in 68.6% vs 63.3%, 24.8% vs 31.1%, and 6.5% vs 5.5%, respectively. Overall, the area under the receiver-operator characteristics curve for the validation cohort was 0.7731. In conclusion, the IMPROVE RAM can accurately identify medical patients at low, moderate, and high VTE risk. This will tailor future thromboprophylactic strategies in this population as well as identify particularly high VTE risk patients in whom multimodal or more intensive prophylaxis may be beneficial.
Quadrangular Refinements of Convex Polygons with an Application to Finite-Element Meshes

We present a linear–time algorithm that decomposes a convex polygon conformally into a minimum number of strictly convex quadrilaterals. Moreover, we characterize the polygons that can be decomposed without additional vertices inside the polygon, and we present a linear–time algorithm for such decompositions, too. As an application, we consider the problem of constructing a minimum conformal refinement of a mesh in the three–dimensional space, which approximates the surface of a workpiece. We prove that this problem is strongly –hard, and we present a linear-time algorithm with a constant approximation ratio of four.
Retinoic acid, midkine, and defects of secondary neurulation.

BACKGROUND Retinoic acid (RA) is necessary for normal differentiation of the tail bud into the secondary neural tube. Excess RA, however, is teratogenic and causes neural tube defects (NTDs). The way in which RA modulates secondary neurulation is unclear but probably involves RA-regulated downstream genes such midkine (MK), which encodes a growth factor implicated in tail bud mesenchymal-neuroepithelial conversion. Our objective was to determine whether RA-deficiency would produce similar defects and if MK is involved. METHODS Citral, a drug that blocks endogenous RA formation, as well as a neutralizing antibody, were used to block RA activity in chick embryos. Immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization were used to localize RA and MK in the tail bud. Competitive RT-PCR was used to examine the effects of excess RA and RA deficiency due to citral on the expression of MK mRNA. RESULTS Citral-induced NTDs displayed a morphological resemblance to those caused by excess RA. However, citral treatment did not significantly increase embryonic mortality, and RA rescue of citral-treated embryos proved unsuccessful. MK mRNA was detected in the differentiating tail bud by in situ hybridization. Competitive RT-PCR showed that excess RA decreased MK expression by 60%. Doses of citral that caused a comparable incidence of defects, however, caused only a 25% decrease. CONCLUSIONS The results show that excess RA and RA deficiency both cause defects of secondary neurulation. While excess RA decreased MK expression, RA deficiency had minimal effects. However, whether or not MK is an intermediary in the developmental phenomena regulated physiologically or pathologically by RA remains to be elucidated.
Commodity price uncertainty as a leading indicator of economic activity

In this paper we examine the impact of commodity price uncertainty on US economic activity. Our empirical analysis indicates that uncertainty in agricultural, energy and metals markets depresses US economic activity and acts as an early warning signal for US recessions. Our VAR analysis shows that uncertainty shocks in agricultural and metals markets have a more long-lasting dampening effect on US economic activity and its components, when compared to the effect of oil price uncertainty shocks. Finally, we show that when accounting for the effects of macroeconomic and monetary factors, the negative dynamic response of economic activity to agricultural and metals price uncertainty shocks remains unaltered, while the respective macroeconomic response to energy uncertainty shocks is significantly reduced due to either systematic policy reactions or random shocks in monetary policy.
Unsupervised learning of space-time symmetric patterns in RGB-D videos for 4D human activity detection

In this paper we present an approach for finding space-time activity map in a video shot using 3D moment methods. A RGB-D video involves a specific human activity is first regularly partitioned into multiple video shots in which human activities can be defined. For each video shot, we separate it into multiple video cubes which characterizes local object shape and motion. Given a local video cube, the proposed spacetime pattern detector extracts both the spatial and temporal symmetric information which are further grouped together by hashing to construct an activity map that describes the distribution of motion vectors of objects in a video shot. The intrinsic human activity in a video consisting of multiple shots is finally represented by a set of activity maps. Next, to reduce the temporal dimensionality of an activity in terms of activity maps, the kernel PCA method is applied to transform the activity representation into a set of principal activity maps. Finally, regardless of the activity types of the training videos, all the training principal activity maps are clustered into multiple clusters to generate a principal activity map dictionary. This dictionary is used to solve the initial pose problem when we use dynamic programming to align two sequences of principal activity maps for recognizing human activities in RGB-D videos. The proposed approach was tested using publicly available datasets. Experimental results demonstrate the good performance of the proposed method in terms of activity detection accuracy and execution speed.
Hemodynamic and respiratory effects of morphine and butorphanol

The hemodynamic effects of butorphanol, a potent synthetic narcotic‐antagonist analgesic, were investigated and compared with those of morphine. A total of 20 patients were studied (8 butorphanol, 12 morphine) at the time of diagnostic cardiac catheterization. Butorphanol decreased pH, PCO2, and systemic artery pressure and increased PCO2, cardiac index, and pulmonary artery pressure. Morphine caused similar changes in pH, PO2, systemic artery pressure, and PCO2 but much smaller changes in cardiac index and no change in pulmonary artery pressure. The clinical implications and possible mechanisms are discussed.
Developmental differences in visual backward masking.

2 experiments were conducted to examine developmental differences in visual recognition masking when verbal encoding and response demands are minimized. Precautions were taken in the experiments to ensure the implication of the central visual system in the backward-masking component of each experiment. Sampling was conducted across the kindergarten, third-grade, sixth-grade, and college levels. In the first experiment, no-mask target recognition was set at 100% correct. The results indicated systematic grade differences in backward masking such that older children and adults showed more rapid recognition improvement across stimulus onset asynchronies (SOAs) than did young subjects (i.e., a grade x SOA interaction). Although this finding could be interpreted to suggest developmental differences in the rate of visual information processing, such an interpretation would be inappropriate. The problem is that the masking functions for all grade levels reach asymptote at 100% correct (i.e., a ceiling effect). Thus, the grade X SOA interaction could have been produced for reasons other than rate-of-processing differences (e.g., developmental differences in the quality of stimulus reception). Thus, experiment 2 was designed to assess this possibility by evaluating developmental differences in visual backward masking when no-mask target recognition was set at the 75% level for the grades sampled. The grade x SOA interaction observed in experiment 1 was not observed in experiment 2. The results from the studies indicate that, when the ceiling effects in no-mask target recognition are removed, the visual information processing rates for children and adults can be considered equivalent.
Gene therapy with iNOS enhances regional contractility and reduces delayed contrast enhancement in a model of postischemic congestive heart failure.

AIMS The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of transient local myocardial gene transfer of iNOS on cardiac function in a large mammal animal model of heart failure induced by chronic ischemia. METHODS Chronic myocardial ischemia was induced using a minimally invasive model in 16 landrace pigs. Upon demonstration of heart failure, eight animals were treated with liposome-mediated iNOS-gene-transfer by local intramyocardial injection; eight animals received a sham procedure to serve as control. RESULTS The transmurality of late enhancement (control: 46.4%, iNOS: 35.9%; p < 0.05) was significantly decreased in the ischemic area in the iNOS-treated group. Wall thickness at end-systole (6.8 mm vs. 5.9 mm, p < 0.001) and at end-diastole (5.4 mm vs. 4.2 mm, p < 0.001) were significantly higher in the therapy group. Additionally, the regional wall motion at the level of the ischemic region was 3.5 mm in the therapy group while it was significantly less (3.0 mm, p < 0.001) in the control group. CONCLUSIONS Our findings demonstrate that transient iNOS overexpression potentially leads to a significant decrease of regional late enhancement with a positive effect on regional cardiac function in the ischemic area in a large animal model of postischemic heart failure.
The Meaning of life: Animism in the Classificatory Skills of Older Adults

Seventy-five participants aged from their teens to their seventies were measured on a battery of measures of personality, lifestyle, intelligence, and educational background. These measures were gauged against performance on a measure of animism, in which participants judged twenty-three items (4 alive, 19 non-living) as living or non-living. Although animism errors increased with age, all groups displayed animism errors, thereby contradicting Piaget (1965). Performance is partially explained by fluid intelligence level, but is more plausibly ascribed to progressive loss of what is essentially peripheral information to non-academic people.