Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Satellite SAR and Human Settlement Detection

Due to the peculiar features of human settlement areas, with enormous variance of objects and the resulting variability and possibly also ambiguity of data, such areas represent the most demanding cases for information extraction from SAR data. This research is particularly aimed at human settlement mapping at a regional scale. Indeed, informal settlement monitoring is an important topic for the many national and international initiatives including GMES and the humanitarian and development aid policies of major countries. Also, monitoring settlements is related to phenomena like illegal immigration that are very high on the list of policy makers; finally, SAR is still underestimated as a reliable source of data. From a technical point of view, this work is based on the integration of spatial information extracted from SAR data to reach a suitable mapping accuracy for urban areas. In particular, the use of co-occurrence textural features has been considered, and the role of the spatial scales in the images for determining different environment investigated. In particular, the procedure will be discussed for the Chinese region of Wuhan using ENVISAT SAR data.
Melatonin in humans.

Three centuries ago, the French philosopher Rene Descartes described the pineal gland as “the seat of the soul,” but it was not until the late 1950s that melatonin, the principal substance secreted by the pineal gland, was identified.1 There is now evidence that melatonin may have a role in the biologic regulation of circadian rhythms, sleep, mood, and perhaps reproduction, tumor growth, and aging (Table 1). However, uncertainties and doubts still surround the role of melatonin in human physiology and pathophysiology. This review summarizes current knowledge about melatonin in humans and its clinical implications. Physiology and Pharmacology In humans, the .
Pilot study of the safety and efficacy of Myobloc™ (botulinum toxin type B) for treatment of axillary hyperhidrosis

Background Botulinum toxin type B (BTX‐B, Myobloc™, San Francisco, CA, USA) was FDA‐approved for the treatment of cervical dystonia in December 2000. It has since been used off‐label for the treatment of axillary hyperhidrosis. However, there are sparse data in the medical literature evaluating the safety and efficacy of Myobloc™ (botulinum toxin type B) for this indication.
Realtime gesture recognition under the multi-layered parallel recognition framework of QVIPS

The importance of gesture protocols has caught little attention in the field of gesture-related computer vision research. The gesture protocols are the consensus on gestures, which are formed through face-to-face communication in our daily lives. Traditional gesture recognition algorithms unilaterally presupposed the gesture protocol without the consensus from users. As a consequence, users were directed to follow the rigidly prescribed gestures unintentionally. Standing firm on the belief that the gestures are not substitute for keyboards and mice, we propose a flexible gesture recognition framework which can adapt to any kinds of gestures presented by the user him/herself. To focus on a process in which the gesture protocols are formed, the Quadruple Visual Interest Point Strategy (QVIPS) is newly introduced. QVIPS enables the system to observe a gesture from multilateral perspectives and to recognize the position, posture and motion information of a user under a unified framework. Inevitably QVIPS requires additional computational burden. We deal with this problem by the combinational use of a Gaussian Density Feature (GDF) and fast Fourier transform (FFT). The proposed system performs recognition in real-time without any special purpose hardware.
Phenolic extracts of Centaurium erythraea with novel antiradical, antibacterial and antileishmanial activities

*Corresponding author: Abdelhakim Bouyahya, Laboratory of Human Pathologies Biology, Faculty of Sciences, University Mohammed V, Av. Ibn battouta BP 1014, Rabat, Morocco. Tel: +2121350878 E-mail: boyahyaa-90@hotmail.fr Foundation Project: Supported by National Center for Scientific and Technical Research (NCSTR) (Grant No. 376UM5). The journal implements double-blind peer review practiced by specially invited international editorial board members.
Somatotopic distribution of trigeminal nociceptive neurons in ventrobasal complex of cat thalamus.

Recordings were made from single thalamic units in the urethan-chloralose anesthetized cat. Altogether 2,905 trigeminal single units having a receptive field in the contralateral trigeminal integument were isolated from the somatosensory part of nucleus ventralis posteromedialis, or VPM proper. Each isolated unit was tested for responses to a series of mechanical stimuli. The stimuli included brushing the skin, touch, pressure, noxious pinch, and pinpricks. The majority of VPM proper units responded with the greatest discharge frequency to gentle mechanical stimulation: either hair movement or light pressure to the trigeminal integument, but 341 units were identified as trigeminal nociceptive units. They were partitioned into two functionally defined subclasses, nociceptive specific (NS) and wide dynamic range (WDR) units, but not intermingled with low-threshold mechanoreceptive (LTM) units. Both NS and WDR units were found at or near the margin of the VPM proper but not outside this nucleus. This marginal area was referred to as the shell region of the VPM proper. A total of 248 NS units was found within the shell region of the caudal third of the VPM proper. This part was called the NS zone. These units were somatotopically organized. In the rostral part of the NS zone, ophthalmic NS units having a receptive field in the contralateral ophthalmic division were located dorsolaterally, maxillary NS units occurred dorsomedially, and mandibular NS units were found ventromedially. In the caudal part of the NS zone, maxillary NS units were encountered in the dorsal shell region, whereas mandibular NS units were found in the ventromedial shell region. Ophthalmic NS units were not found in this part of the NS zone. Altogether 93 WDR units were encountered in the shell region of the VPM proper. They were confined to a narrow band approximately 300 micron wide just rostral to the NS zone. These units were somatotopically organized. Ophthalmic WDR units having a low-threshold center of the receptive field in the contralateral ophthalmic division were located dorsolaterally, maxillary WDR units were located dorsomedially, and mandibular WDR units were located ventromedially. The majority of maxillary as well as mandibular WDR units were activated by electrical stimulation of the contralateral maxillary and/or mandibular canine tooth pulp afferents. Both NS and WDR zones of the VPM proper extended into the shell region of the nucleus ventralis posterolateralis (VPL). (ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 400 WORDS)
Development on 31.5MVA STATCOM and digital evaluation tool for voltage flicker compensation

A large capacity self-commutated static VAr compensator rated at 31.5 MVA has been developed for the voltage flicker compensation. The operation experiences in an actual field and the successful performance of the voltage flicker suppression are introduced in this paper. The principle of the voltage flicker evaluation and the real time digital evaluation tool are also described. This tool can calculate simultaneously the voltage flicker value with and without the STATCOM. It can also analyze the voltage flicker from the arc furnaces which will be compensated by the STATCOM.
Two-Age System and Deferment Harvests

tain two distinct age classes in a forest. This system is generally initiated using a deferment harvest, sometimes referred to as a shelterwood or clearcut with reserves (Figure 1). The deferment harvest retains a limited basal area of canopy trees while allowing the majority of the area to regenerate. The harvest initially creates a stand that contains scattered or small groups of older trees, typically one rotation length in age, surrounded by a regenerating age class. The canopy trees that are left are termed reserve trees. At the end of a second rotation length the stand contains a limited number of large reserve trees, two rotation lengths in age, and a larger number of trees that are one rotation length in age. The two-age system is a viable method for managing many hardwood stands where longer-lived species are present. The system provides for vigorous regeneration and the development of average size and valued sawtimber trees and a significant component of older and larger high-value veneer and grade sawtimber trees. The system also provides for structural components that are lacking in even-aged stands. These structural components can benefit wildlife populations and provide old-growth characteristics. Like any silvicultural option, the two-age system has benefits and constraints and is not appropriate for every management objective or stand condition. The system does provide landowners and managers with options not available with other systems; however, proper implementation is required.
Value of magnetic resonance imaging in assessing patency and function of coronary artery bypass grafts. An angiographically controlled study.

BACKGROUND Previous studies have demonstrated the high sensitivity and moderate specificity of standard magnetic resonance (MR) spin-echo (SE) and gradient-echo (GE) techniques in predicting the patency of coronary artery bypass grafts. These techniques, however, do not provide quantitative information. Therefore, the objectives of this study were first to investigate whether MR cine GE images, performed in addition to standard SE images, have additional value for the assessment of graft patency and second to assess the graft function by measuring the flow pattern and flow rate with MR phase velocity imaging. METHODS AND RESULTS Forty-seven patients with previous histories of coronary artery bypass grafting underwent angiography and MR SE and cine GE phase velocity imaging. SE and GE images were evaluated by three independent observers blinded to the angiographic results. The spatial mean velocity and volume flow were measured and repeated for each image at consecutive 50-millisecond intervals throughout the cardiac cycle. The 47 patients had 98 proximal aortotomies, of which 60 were single and 38 sequential grafts. Seventy-three grafts were patent; 25 were occluded. Eighty-four grafts (86%) were eligible for comparison of the results of SE and GE images. Assessment of patency was inconclusive on SE images in 7 grafts (5 occluded by angiography) and on GE images in 7 grafts (2 occluded). A comparison of the results of contrast angiography and SE and GE MR imaging techniques showed that both techniques had a high sensitivity (both 98%) and somewhat lower specificity (85% and 88%, respectively) for graft patency. Combined analysis of the SE and GE images did not improve the accuracy. The strength of the interobserver agreement on GE images was good (kappa = 0.66), whereas on SE images the agreement was moderate (kappa = 0.51). Adequate MR phase velocity profiles were obtained in 62 (85%) of the 73 angiographically patent grafts. Graft flow was characterized by a balanced biphasic forward flow pattern. The volume flow of sequential grafts to 3 regions (136 +/- 106 mL/min) was significantly higher than in single grafts (63 +/- 41 mL/min, P < .01). CONCLUSIONS Considering the good interobserver agreement and the 85% success rate of quantitative flow measurements, cine GE phase velocity mapping is a promising clinical tool in the noninvasive assessment of graft patency and function.
Pro‐inflammatory cytokines and depression in a familial cancer registry

Patients undergoing cancer treatment (e.g., interferon or IL‐2 treatment) develop depression, and there is a positive relationship between their depression and circulating levels of proinflammatory cytokines. Depressed patients who are medically healthy also show increases in circulating markers of inflammation. The present study characterized baseline levels of inflammatory cytokine activity in 18 pairs of depressed and non‐depressed persons at high risk for cancer and matched for age, ethnicity and all unaffected by a personal history of cancer. Circulating levels of interleukin‐6 (IL‐6), soluble IL‐6 receptor (sIL‐6R), tumor necrosis factor‐α‐receptor (TNF‐RII), and soluble intercellular adhesion molecule (sICAM) did not differ between those with and without depression. The present data are important for characterizing persons at high risk for cancer who may later acquire knowledge of further increased risk through genetic testing. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
A comparison between two optimized TFPM geometries for 5 MW direct-drive wind turbines

This paper presents the method and result of optimizing a 5MW Transverse Flux Permanent Magnet (TFPM) generator using a genetic algorithm method. Because the main disadvantage of a TFPM generator is the price, a reduction in costs has to be considered in order to make it more attractive for the industry. The approach presented in this paper focuses on a reduction in mass of active materials, which constitute the generator, because the price of the machine is in direct relation with the amount of materials used for the construction. This strategy is applied for two types of TFPM geometries in order to asses which behaves better when subjected to optimization and which provides the best result. In order to obtain the mass of active materials the entire analytical design has to be covered, making the analytical design to behave as a cost function for the optimization program. The innovation presented by this article consists on the fact that an optimization algorithm is constructed to be capable of solving any kind of cost function, even entire design procedures, as it is presented here.
Blood cultures in sick children.

BACKGROUND Blood cultures (BCs) are frequently performed in sick children. A recent audit of BCs among adult patients documented high rates of contamination by coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS). OBJECTIVES To describe BC contamination rates and common pathogenic organisms causing bloodstream infection in children at a tertiary- level children's hospital. METHODS BC results for children admitted to Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital from 2008 to 2012 were extracted from the National Health Laboratory Service database. Pathogenic and non-pathogenic (contaminated) growth on BCs in children <1 year of age and >1 year of age, were analysed. Data analysis was performed using Epi Info version 3.5. 1. RESULTS A total of 47 677 BCs were performed in the 5-year period. The proportion of contaminated specimens ranged between 5.9% and 7.2% per year (p=0.4). CoNS was the predominant isolate in 53.8% of all contaminated BCs. Children <1 year of age experienced higher contamination rates than children >1 year of age (8.7% v. 4.7%; relative risk 1.84; 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.71 - 1.97). Pathogenic organisms were isolated in 6.2% (95% CI 6.0 - 6.4) of all BC specimens. Among Gram-positive organisms, the proportion of Streptococcus pneumoniae isolates declined from 14.3% to 4.7% (p<0.00001), while there was a significant increase in Gram-negative organisms (51.8% - 57.9%; p=0.04) over the 5-year period. Klebsiella pneumoniae, the predominant Enterobacteriaceae isolated, decreased from 45.8% to 31.7% (p=0.004). CONCLUSION This study identified unacceptably high BC contamination rates, emphasising the importance of collecting BC specimens under sterile conditions.
Robust dynamic myocardial perfusion CT deconvolution for accurate residue function estimation via adaptive-weighted tensor total variation regularization: a preclinical study

Dynamic myocardial perfusion computed tomography (MPCT) is a promising technique for quick diagnosis and risk stratification of coronary artery disease. However, one major drawback of dynamic MPCT imaging is the heavy radiation dose to patients due to its dynamic image acquisition protocol. In this work, to address this issue, we present a robust dynamic MPCT deconvolution algorithm via adaptive-weighted tensor total variation (AwTTV) regularization for accurate residue function estimation with low-mA s data acquisitions. For simplicity, the presented method is termed ‘MPD-AwTTV’. More specifically, the gains of the AwTTV regularization over the original tensor total variation regularization are from the anisotropic edge property of the sequential MPCT images. To minimize the associative objective function we propose an efficient iterative optimization strategy with fast convergence rate in the framework of an iterative shrinkage/thresholding algorithm. We validate and evaluate the presented algorithm using both digital XCAT phantom and preclinical porcine data. The preliminary experimental results have demonstrated that the presented MPD-AwTTV deconvolution algorithm can achieve remarkable gains in noise-induced artifact suppression, edge detail preservation, and accurate flow-scaled residue function and MPHM estimation as compared with the other existing deconvolution algorithms in digital phantom studies, and similar gains can be obtained in the porcine data experiment.
Coagulation Factor XIIa-kinin-mediated contribution to hypertension of chronic kidney disease

Background: Activated coagulation Factor XII (FXIIa) infusion increases peripheral resistance (TPR) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) of Brown Norway but not plasma kininogen deficient Brown Norway Katholiek (BNK) rats. FXIIa concentrations are elevated in hypertensive end-stage renal disease patients receiving conventional haemodialysis (CHD). Conversion to nocturnal haemodialysis (NHD) lowers peripheral resistance and MAP. Objective: To determine whether the plasma coagulation FXIIa-kallikrein-kinin axis contributes to the hypertension of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Methods: Plasma FXIIa and haemodynamic data were acquired in 11 CHD patients before and after 2 months of NHD. Cardiac and systemic haemodynamics of Brown Norway and BNK rats rendered hypertensive and uremic by 5/6 nephrectomy (NX) were determined before and after acute FXIIa inhibition. Results: FXIIa was increased three-fold in CHD patients relative to control plasma (P < 0.05). After conversion to NHD, both &Dgr;MAP and &Dgr;TPR correlated with &Dgr;FXIIa. In rats, plasma FXIIa was three-fold higher in both NX groups than respective SHAM controls (all P < 0.05), but MAP (147 ± 4 vs. 133 ± 2 mmHg; P < 0.05) and TPR (2.8 ± 0.2 vs. 2.3 ± 0.2 units; P < 0.05) were greater in Brown Norway NX (n = 16) than in BNK (n = 15) NX rats. FXIIa correlated with MAP only in Brown Norway NX, and plasma catecholamines were increased relative to SHAM only in Brown Norway NX (P < 0.05). In Brown Norway NX rats, FXIIa inhibitor infusion decreased MAP (−12 mmHg) and TPR (−0.5 Units) (both P < 0.05), and halved catecholamines (P < 0.05). No such changes occurred in BNK NX rats. Conclusion: FXIIa-kininogen mediated vasoconstriction contributes significantly to CKD hypertension in Brown Norway rats; this novel mechanism may be active in humans with CKD.
The haemodynamic consequences of adaptive structural changes of the resistance vessels in hypertension.

It is generally accepted that a rise in systemic flow resistance constitutes the essential background of the increased arterial blood pressure in well-established hypertension, though the early ‘labile’ phases of essential hypertension in particular may exhibit a pattern simulating a moderately intense defence reaction, with enhanced cardiac output and muscle blood flow as the most characteristic features, apart from the rise in blood pressure. With respect to the increased flow resistance in the well-established phase, it is accepted that the vessels respond readily, and apparently normally, to vasodilator substances, from which the correct conclusion has been drawn that the resistance increase cannot be ascribed to any sclerotic narrowing of the resistance vessels (Pickering, 1968). However, this observation has also generally led to the assumption that an increased smooth-muscle tone of the resistance vessels must be the explanation of the increased flow resistance and, despite the fact that there are numerous reports of medial hypertrophy in the precapillary resistance vessels for instance (Pickering, 1968), the possible haemodynamic consequences of such a type of structural vascular adaptation has hardly been considered at all. Instead the debate has mainly been concerned about whether the assumed increase of vascular tone is due to enhanced myogenic activity, to an increased neurogenic and/or hormonal exogenous stimulation of the vascular smooth muscles or whether these muscles might exhibit an enhanced sensitivity or ‘reactivity’ to such extrinsic stimuli. In other words, if summarized in a diagram relating the extent of active smooth-muscle shortening to the degree of resistance increase in an idealized resistance vessel (Fig. 1), an increased smooth muscle activity, whatever its background, would mean a shift from the normal resting equilibrium at point O to a point B along the curve N. However, one cannot safely deduce levels of vascular smooth-muscle activity between different individuals, or vascular beds, by simply assuming that they are proportional to the respective levels of current flow resistance. In each individual, or vascular bed, one must first relate the actual resistance level to that present when the vascular smooth muscles are completely inactive; i.e. when the resistance vessels are maximally dilated and exposed to the same amount of distending pressure. This latter resistance value provides the necessary ‘baseline’, or an equivalent of fully relaxed muscle length for a particular vascular bed, from which its current level of smooth muscle activity has to be judged in terms of the ratio between these two resistance values. This is simple and straightforward reasoning, but surprisingly enough studies along these lines were apparently not performed systematically until our group used this approach in analyses of the level of ‘basal tone’ in different vascular beds or individuals (Celander & Folkow, 1953; Lofving & Mellander, 1956; Folkow, 1956).
Soft Tissue Preservation in Terrestrial Mesozoic Vertebrates

Exceptionally preserved fossils—i.e., those that retain, in some manner, labile components of organisms that are normally degraded far too quickly to enter the fossil record—hold the greatest potential for understanding aspects of the biology of long-extinct animals and are the best targets for the search for endogenous biomolecules. Yet the modes of preservation of these labile components, and exactly what remains of the original composition, are not well understood. Here, I review a selection of cases of soft tissue preservation in Mesozoic vertebrates, examine chemical and environmental factors that may influence such preservation, explore the potential of these fossils for high-resolution analytical studies, and suggest clarification of terminologies and criteria for determining the endogeneity of source and the degree of preservation of these well-preserved tissues. 187 A nn u. R ev . E ar th P la ne t. Sc i. 20 11 . 3 9: 18 721 6. D ow nl oa de d fr om w w w . a nn ua lr ev ie w s. or g by D r. M ar y Sc hw ei tz er o n 04 /2 9/ 11 . F or p er so na l u se o nl y. EA39CH07-Schweitzer ARI 29 March 2011 20:12