Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Myocardial Infarction Segmentation From Late Gadolinium Enhancement MRI By Neural Networks and Prior Information

In this paper, we propose an automatic myocardial infarction segmentation framework from Delayed Enhancement cardiac MRI (DE-MRI) using a convolutional neural network (CNN) and prior information-based post-treatments. The work was conducted on our DE-MRI dataset, which is collected from daily clinical practice. 195 cases of DE-MRI examinations constitute this dataset, including on average 7 images per case with manually drawn contours by an expert. The objective is to automatically segment myocardial infarctions on both healthy and pathological images in the dataset. In the proposed framework, a downsampling-upsampling segmentation CNN firstly generates high recall segmentations of myocardial infarction from left ventricle DE-MR images, then the proposed prior information-based post-processing method identifies and removes false-positive segmentations from the CNN’s prediction. To obtain a high recall prediction, two U-NET like semantic segmentation networks are investigated: CE-NET and its backbone with Dice loss and Stochastic Gradient Descent (SGD) using a batch size of value 1. The prior information-based post-processing evaluates every single contour in the CNN’s segmentations: region features in each contour are compared to criteria which are firstly estimated based on the training set images and eventually fine-tuned based on the validation set images. All non-conforming contours are removed from the predictions to improve the accuracy of the segmentation. Combining the high recall networks and prior postprocessing information, we achieve segmentation results comparable to those produced by human experts.
Concentration, size-distribution and deposition of mineral aerosol over Chinese desert regions

The mass-particle size distributions (MSDs) of 9 elements in ground-based aerosol samples from dust storm (DS) and non-dust storm (N-DS) periods were determined for 12 sites in 9 major desert regions in northern China. The masses of the 9 elements (Al, Fe, K, Mg, Mn, Sc, Si, Sr and Ti) in the atmosphere were dominated by local mineral dust that averaged 270 μg m −3 , and the MSDs for the elements were approximately log-normal. On the basis of Al data, the < 10 μm particles account for ∼84% of the total dust mass over the deserts. Model-calculated (“100-step” method) dry deposition velocities ( V d ) for the 9 dust-derived elements during N-DS periods ranged from 4.4 to 6.8 cm s −1 , with a median value of 5.6 cm s -1 . On the basis of a statistical relationship between D 99% (the dust particle diameter corresponding to the uppermost 1% of the cumulative mass distribution) and V d , one can also predict dry velocities, especially when D 99% ranges from 30 to 70 μm. This provides a simple way to reconstruct V d for dust deposits (like aeolian loess sediments in the Loess Plateau). The estimated daily dry deposition fluxes were higher during DS vs. N-DS periods, but in most cases, the monthly averaged fluxes were mainly attributable to N-DS dust. Two regions with high dust loading and fluxes are identified: the “Western High-Dust Desert” and the “Northern High-Dust Desert”, with Taklimakan Desert and Badain Juran Desert as their respective centers. These are energetic regions in which desert-air is actively exchanged, and these apparently are the major source areas for Asian dust. DOI: 10.1034/j.1600-0889.1998. t01-3-00001.x
Neoformação óssea e osteointegração de biomateriais micro e nanoestruturados em ovinos

A substituicao de parte do tecido osseo se faz necessaria muitas vezes na rotina cirurgica, seja em funcao de fraturas, neoplasias osseas ou enfermidades ortopedicas que acarretem em perda ossea. Neste sentido, tem se buscado biomateriais capazes de promover esta substituicao, evitando o uso de enxertos ou transplantes osseos. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a capacidade osteoregenerativa de biomateriais em diferentes composicoes, em tibias de ovinos. Foram utilizadas oito ovelhas mesticas texel, com 12 meses de idade e peso medio de 28,5±7,4kg. Apos adequada preparacao anestesica e cirurgica, foram produzidos tres defeitos osseos na diafise das tibias em sua face medial, totalizando seis defeitos de 6mm cada, sendo que quatro foram preenchidos por biomateriais, e dois por fragmentos osseos retirados do proprio animal (autocontrole). Os materiais implantados foram: hidroxiapatita (HA), tricalcio fosfato-β (TCP-β), hidroxiapatita/tricalcio fosfato-b 60/40 (HA/TCP-b 60/40) e o nanocomposito hidroxiapatita/alumina a 5% (HA/Al2O3 a 5%). Os animais foram alocados em dois grupos: Grupo 60 (n=04), em que os animais foram eutanasiados apos 60 dias da colocacao dos implantes e Grupo 90 (n=04), em que a eutanasia ocorreu 90 dias apos a colocacao dos implantes. Foram realizadas radiografias nos periodos pre-operatorio, imediatamente apos o procedimento e aos 30, 60 e 90 dias de pos-operatorio, a fim de excluir qualquer alteracao previa ou complicacao pos-operatoria, capaz de comprometer o estudo. Apos a eutanasia, foram coletadas as tibias para avaliacao macro e microscopica, por meio de microscopia eletronica de varredura (MEV) e microscopia optica. Os resultados encontrados mostraram uma boa capacidade de neoformacao ossea e uma lenta absorcao da HA. O TCP-β foi rapidamente absorvido e apresentou boa capacidade osteoindutiva e osteocondutiva, sendo observada neoformacao ossea no interior dos grânulos deste biomaterial. O composto bifasico HA/TCP-β (60/40) apresentou o melhor resultado a longo prazo, devido ao melhor controle na solubilizacao e liberacao dos ions calcio e fosfatos para o meio biologico durante o processo de neoformacao ossea. O biomaterial nanocomposito HA/Al2O3 a 5% nao apresentou resultados promissores neste estudo, e sugerem-se novas pesquisas a fim de investigar melhor o potencial e aplicabilidade deste novo biomaterial. Conclui-se que a hidroxiapatita, o tricalcio fosfato-β e a associacao HA/TCP-β (60/40) apresentam excelente capacidade de reparacao ossea, podendo ser utilizados como substitutos osseos; a associacao HA/TCP-β (60/40) e o melhor dentre os biomateriais estudados, pois apresenta velocidade de absorcao intermediaria em relacao a HA e ao TCP-β isolados, fornecendo ainda uma sustentacao adequada ao tecido neoformado; o biomaterial HA/Al2O3 5% se mostrou incompativel, provocando reacao de rejeicao por parte do hospedeiro e com insignificante formacao de tecido osseo, sugerindo novas pesquisas acerca deste material.
Effect of different activation techniques on immature and in vitro matured cat oocytes.

This study was conducted to determine the most successful techniques on inmature and in vitro-matured cat oocytes that were parhtenogenically activated using 6-dimethylaminopurine (6-DMAP) and cycloheximide (CHX), in combination with electrical stimulation and calcium ionophore. After 44 h of in vitro maturation, the oocytes with a polar body were separated as mature (M II) and those without a polar body were considered as immature. Four different activation treatments and two control groups were used for parthenogenetic activation with both mature and immature cat oocytes. After 48 h of activation, the oocytes were examined and the non-cleaved oocytes removed. The cleaved oocytes/embryos were cultured in vitro in mSOF medium for an additional four days. After six days of in vitro culture (IVC), embryo quality was evaluated. The results in the present study suggested that (I) both in vitro matured and immature cat oocytes have a potential to develop to morula and blastocyst stages after parthenogenetic activation, (II) electrical stimulation + 6-DMAP is a more useful technique for both matured and immature cat oocytes and (III) to our knowledge, this is the first report that describes morula and blastocyst formation from parthenogenetically activated immature cat oocytes.
Induction of autotetraploidy using colchicine and its identification in radish (Raphanus sativus L.)

ABSTRACT Radish (Raphanus sativus L.) is an important root vegetable in the family Brassicaceae, and is popular worldwide, especially in East Asia. Colchicine was used to induce autotetraploidy in four advanced inbred lines of radish. A combination of 0.1% (w/v) colchicine in 0, 0.1%, 0.2%, or 0.4% (v/v) dimethyl sulphoxide (DMSO) was applied to the apical meristem of young seedlings. A preliminary screening for putative tetraploids was conducted based on morphological traits including flower size, the number of chloroplasts in guard cells, stomatal size, and stomatal density. Plants with significantly larger stomata, with more chloroplasts in their guard cells, were selected for further analysis by chromosome counting. Only one tetraploid genotype, ‘Nau-dy13’, was successfully induced using 0.1% (w/v) colchicine plus 0.2% (v/v) DMSO, with a tetraploid induction rate of 20%. Application of the above concentrations of colchicine and DMSO to the apical meristem of ‘Nau-dy13’ seedlings was found to be an efficient method to induce polyploidy in radish. The tetraploid plants had larger flowers, stomata, and pollen grains and a chromosome number of 4x = 36. In contrast, the rate of pollen germination (19.24%) in the tetraploid genotype was lower than in the diploid line (55.80%). Levels of expression of six genes controlling meiosis, MER3/RCK, ATK1, ATK5, DMC1, TTN8, and MPS1, were measured using real-time reverse transcription quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). Expression of MPS1 was downregulated 0.6-fold in autotetraploid plants compared to diploid plants. An efficient method for the induction of tetraploids in radish has been established. This will facilitate the manipulation of ploidy level when developing novel elite germplasm and allow further analysis of the mechanism of polyploidy in radish.
How do octopuses use their arms

: A taxonomy of the movement patterns of the 8 flexible arms of octopuses is constructed. Components consist of movements of the arm itself, the ventral suckers and their stalks, as well as the relative position of arms and the skin web between them. Within 1 arm, combinations of components result in a variety of behaviors. At the level of all arms, 1 group of behaviors is described as postures, on the basis of the spread of all arms and the web to make a 2-dimensional surface whose position differs in the 3rd dimension. Another group of arm behaviors is actions, more or less coordinated and involving several to all arms. Arm control appears to be based on radial symmetry, relative equipotentiality of all arms, relative independence of each arm, and separability of components within the arm. The types and coordination of arm behaviors are discussed with relationship to biomechanical limits, muscle structures, and neuronal programming.
AGING AND SOURCE MONITORING : COGNITIVE PROCESSES AND NEUROPSYCHOLOGICAL CORRELATES

This study shows that relative to younger adults, older adults are more adversely influenced by similar items when judging a memory's source, and the phenomenal features of their correctly and incorrectly attributed memories have greater overlap. The authors argue in accordance with the source monitoring framework that this age-related impairment in source accuracy is related to processes involved in binding features into complex memories and those involved in accessing and evaluating contextual features of memories. These processes are linked to medial temporal and frontal brain regions, respectively, as evidenced by correlations in older adults between source accuracy and neuropsychological tests often used to assess medial temporal and frontal function. The results suggest that adequate feature binding is particularly important when items from different sources share similar features and access-evaluation processes are particularly important after a delay. Memories derived from imagination can be vivid and detailed, sometimes leading people to mistakenly believe that events that were only imagined actually had occurred. Errors of this sort range from minor confusions, such as mistakenly believing you put the wash in the dryer when you only thought about doing it, to confusions with serious
Physiological and biochemical changes in relation to seed quality in ageing

A study was conducted during 2006–08 to identify physiological (per cent germination, germination rate, seedling vigour index, germination index and standard germination) and biochemical changes (membrane injury, malonaldehyde content, total soluble sugars, amylase, peroxidase and dehydrogenase activity) in relation to seed vigour and viability in fresh and aged bell pepper seeds (Capsicum annum L.). Results showed an overall decrease in germination, vigour and enzyme activity with increase in ageing duration (data). Increased membrane injury (1.2–2.05 times) and lipid peroxidation (1.09–1.38 times) coupled with significant reductions in dehydrogenase (34.5–100%) and amylase activity (42.9–100%) were noticed in accelerated aged (3–15 days) seeds. Peroxidase activity remained unaltered up to 9 days after accelerated ageing but declined significantly at 12 and 15 days after accelerated ageing. Changes in protein and isozymes profiles in aged seeds compared to fresh seeds further indicated that the loss in seed quality might be due to adverse effect of ageing on proteins. The electrophoretic variations in proteins and enzymes noticed in the present study could be used as criteria in assessing the quality of bell pepper seed lots.
Profiling Genome-Wide DNA Methylation Patterns in Human Aortic and Mitral Valves

Cardiac valves exhibit highly complex structures and specialized functions that include dynamic interactions between cells, extracellular matrix (ECM) and their hemodynamic environment. Valvular gene expression is tightly regulated by a variety of mechanisms including epigenetic factors such as histone modifications, RNA-based mechanisms and DNA methylation. To date, methylation fingerprints of non-diseased human aortic and mitral valves have not been studied. In this work we analyzed the differential methylation profiles of 12 non-diseased aortic and mitral valve tissue samples (in matched pairs). Analysis of methylation data [reduced representation bisulfite sequencing (RRBS)] of 16,101 promoters genome-wide revealed 584 differentially methylated (DM) promoters, of which 13 were reported in endothelial mesenchymal trans-differentiation (EMT), 37 in aortic and mitral valve disease and 7 in ECM remodeling. Both functional classification as well as network analysis showed that the genes associated with the DM promoters were enriched for WNT-, Cadherin-, Endothelin-, PDGF-, HIF-1 and VEGF- signaling implicated in valvular physiology and pathophysiology. Additional enrichment was detected for TGFB-, NOTCH- and Integrin- signaling involved in EMT as well as ECM remodeling. This data provides the first insight into differential regulation of human aortic and mitral valve tissue and identifies candidate genes linked to DM promoters. Our work will improve the understanding of valve biology, valve tissue engineering approaches and contributes to the identification of relevant drug targets.
How to Make COVID-19 Contact Tracing Apps work: Insights From Behavioral Economics

Due to network effects, Contact Tracing Apps (CTAs) are only effective if many people download them. However, the response to CTAs has been tepid. For example, in France less than 2 million people (roughly 3% of the population) downloaded the CTA. Against this background, we carry out an online experiment to show that CTAs can still play a key role in containing the spread of COVID-19, provided that they are re-conceptualized to account for insights from behavioral science. We start by showing that carefully devised in-app notifications are effective in inducing prudent behavior like wearing a mask or staying home. In particular, people that are notified that they are taking too much risk and could become a superspreader engage in more prudent behavior. Building on this result, we suggest that CTAs should be re-framed as Behavioral Feedback Apps (BFAs). The main function of BFAs would be providing users with information on how to minimize the risk of contracting COVID-19, like how crowded a store is likely to be. Moreover, the BFA could have a rating system that allows users to flag stores that do not respect safety norms like wearing masks. These functions can inform the behavior of app users, thus playing a key role in containing the spread of the virus even if a small percentage of people download the BFA. While effective contact tracing is impossible when only 3% of the population downloads the app, less risk taking by small portions of the population can produce large benefits. BFAs can be programmed so that users can also activate a tracing function akin to the one currently carried out by CTAs. Making contact tracing an ancillary, opt-in function might facilitate a wider acceptance of BFAs.
Self-reported sleep duration and timing: A methodological review of event definitions, context, and timeframe of related questions

Background Clinical practice guidelines and population health recommendations are derived from studies that include self-reported data. Small semantic differences in question wording and response scales, may significantly affect the response. We conducted a methodological review to assess the variation in event definition(s), context (i.e., work- versus free-day), and timeframe of sleep timing and duration questions. Methods We queried multiple databases of sleep, medicine, public health, and psychology for survey-based studies and/or publications with sleep duration and/or timing questions. The text of these questions was extracted and thematically analyzed by two trained coders. Results We identified 49 surveys that included sleep duration and/or timing questions. Sample sizes of participants in the reviewed publications using these surveys ranged from 93 to 1,185,106. For sleep duration questions, participants were asked to report nocturnal sleep (22/43), sleep in the past 24-hours (15/43), their major sleep episode (3/43), or no event definition was given (3/43). Among bedtime questions, participants were asked to report the time into bed (17/40), fall asleep time (10/40), or first attempt to sleep (13/40). For wake time questions, participants were asked to report their out of bed time (3/36), the time they get up (6/36), or their wake up time (27/36). Context (e.g., work versus free day) guidance was provided in 18/43 major sleep duration questions, 31/40 bedtime questions, and 30/36 wake time questions. Timeframe (e.g., the past 4 weeks) was provided in 6/43 major sleep episode duration questions, 9/40 bedtime questions, and 3/36 wake time questions. Among the surveys analyzed, only one question asked about the method of awakening (e.g., spontaneously or by alarm clock), 15 questions assessed sleep latency, and eight measured napping. Conclusion There is large variability in the event definition(s), context, and timeframe of questions relating to duration, bed/wake times, latency, and napping. This work may inform future efforts at data harmonization for meta-analyses, provide options for question wording for researchers and clinicians, and be used to identify candidate questions for future surveys.
A Rare Case of End-Stage HF Salvaged by Rescue Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT)

• Page 1 of 6 • Khalid et al. Int J Clin Cardiol 2020, 7:181 Citation: Khalid Y, Dasu N, Dasu K, Jang P, Sailam V, et al. (2020) A Rare Case of End-Stage HF Salvaged by Rescue Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT). Int J Clin Cardiol 7:181. doi.org/10.23937/23782951/1410181 Accepted: June 04, 2020; Published: June 06, 2020 Copyright: © 2020 Khalid Y, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. recommend against the use of Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT) as a rescue device in end-stage HF. We present a case of an unconventional approach using CRT to treat refractory end-stage HF. CRT is a promising intervention for new-onset end-stage HF for patients who may be able to recover enough of their EF to restart GDMT. This report highlights the promising clinical outcome of an unconventional CRT use in end-stage HF despite a level C recommendation in current guidelines.
A comparative proteomic study of drought-tolerant and drought-sensitive soybean seedlings under drought stress

Abstract. Drought is a major factor limiting plant growth causing yield reduction in crops; hence the characterisation of drought tolerance and the development of drought-tolerant crop varieties have been a goal of many crop breeding programs. Using the proteomics approach, we compared the differential protein abundance of drought-tolerant and drought-sensitive soybean leaves subjected to mild or severe drought stress. Proteins were extracted and separated using two-dimensional electrophoresis. Those protein spots with significant and more than 2-fold difference in abundance, 174 in total, were further analysed and 102 proteins were positively identified. Around 38.5% of these proteins were related to energy metabolism and photosynthetic functions, followed by those associated with defence response (36.4%) and protein metabolism (25.2%). Severe drought resulted in a greater number of proteins with differential abundance. Genotypes responded differently to drought stress with the tolerant genotype showing a higher capacity for reactive oxygen species scavenging and maintaining energy supply than the sensitive genotype. The sensitive genotype had a greater number of proteins with significant differential abundance than the tolerant genotypes due to drought. The different patterns in protein abundance induced by drought stress may potentially be utilised to screen and select candidate soybean lines with improved drought tolerance.
AN EXPERT SYSTEM FOR DIAGNOSIS COW DISEASES

This article describes an automated expert system developed to diagnose cow diseases and assist veterinarians in treatment. We set before a diagnostic method based on the analysis of observed symptoms and experience of veterinarians. The system represents a web interface for maintaining a database of diseases, their symptoms and treatment methods, as well as a smartphone application for the diagnostics in offline mode. The article presents a structural diagram and describes the main parameters of the developed expert system, as well as a general scheme of the interaction of individual components. Diagnostics and ranking of possible diseases is performed by adding and sorting the results of weighting coefficients of observed symptoms and symptom complexes. Weighting values of symptoms and symptom complexes are determined by veterinary experts. Also presented in the article the information on the developed expert system, and the results of tests and testing during its use. We have simulated the real conditions of cow disease, together with students, made a comparative characteristic with and without the use of developed software product in the diagnosis. By constantly monitoring and updating the knowledge base online, the system has potential use in veterinary practice.
Top Quark Pair-Production in Noncommutative Standard Model

The differential cross-section of the top quark pair production via the quark-antiquark annihilation subprocess in hadron collision is calculated within the noncommutative standard model. A pure NC analytical expression for the forward-backward asymmetry at the tree level is obtained. Moreover, using recent Tevatron results from the full RUN2 data, a new lower bound on the noncommutative geometry parameter is deduced.