Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Examining a multi-layered approach for classification of Optical Character Recognition

In the past few decades, more and more heritage institutions have made their collections digitally available. At the same time, the availability of computer driven research tasks is increasing. With this combination, large data sets can be analysed in a fairly short time, something which would not be possible by hand. However, there is a pitfall; the OCR quality of digitised text is not always of high enough quality. This leads to several possible problems which can cause bias in the research results, both on the information retrieval and the analysis level. Although most researchers are aware of the presence of OCR errors, often they are not able to quantify these errors or the impact on their research. This leads to uncertainty about whether results can be published or not [3]. A measure for the (relative) quality of OCR would be very beneficial in the field of Digital Humanities. Furthermore, digital heritage institutions can use such a measure for improving their digitised collection.
środki kontrastowe Hypersensitivity to iodine contrast media

Iodinated contrast agents (ICAs) are broadly used in radiology. Frequency of adverse events, including hyperreactivity reactions, noted after their application grows in correlation with the steady increase in the numbers of radio-diagnostic tests performed. Hyperreactivity reactions occur most frequently with the use of ionic ICAs; much rarer with non-ionic ones. Clinical manifestations of hyperreactivity reactions to ICAs involve two groups of symptomatologically typical reactions: immediate and non-immediate (occurring < 60 minutes and > 60 minutes after ICAs’ application). The main risk factors of the occurrence and severity of these reactions are: the previous history of such reactions, poorly controlled asthma, and clonal mast cell activation diseases. Diagnosis of sensitivity to ICAs shares the same procedures and tests used in diagnosing other allergies. The more time passes since the manifestation of sensitivity, the less reliable the diagnostic test is. The predictive value of both positive and negative diagnostic results is limited. In patients with a history of sensitivity reactions to ICAs, before any subsequent radiological test, premedication (antihistamine drugs and steroids) is recommended. This, however, does not guarantee full security, especially in patients with a history of anaphylaxis following the use of ICAs.
Food for Thought Lessons from a career in ﬁsheries science ‡

This article summarizes some of my accomplishments during a 45-year career in ﬁsheries science that ranged from conducting ﬁsh stock assessments, working for an international marine science organization, and managing a variety of scientiﬁc projects and activities, to ﬁnally serving as a scientiﬁc editor. In doing so, I have tried to focus on lessons learned. Starting my working life as a high-school math teacher, I soon opted for a different career, returned to the university, and received a PhD in ﬁsheries biology. The ﬁrst 15 years of my career were at the Woods Hole Laboratory of the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) doing ﬁsh stock assessments, where my main interest was Atlantic mackerel ( Scomber scombrus ). Until the USA declared a 200-mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) in early 1977, the focal point of my work was the International Commission for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries (ICNAF). Lasting friendships with scientists from other countries developed duringtheICNAFmeetingsandcontinuedforyearsthereafter,sometothepresentday.During1977–1985,myassessmentactivitieswereconﬁnedtodomesticﬁsheriesandinteractionswithregionalﬁsherymanagementcouncils,whereIfoundthatacooperativeattitudeandtheuseofnon-technicallanguagemadeapositiveimpressionandhelpedbuildtrust.InvolvementinICESassessmentworkinggroupsled,in1985,tobeingappointedStatisticianintheICESSecretariatinCopenhagenandthestartofan8-yearlifeintheinternationalcommunitythatculminatedinbecomingGeneralSecretary.SomemajorchangesinICESinwhichIwasintimatelyinvolvedarediscussed. AftermyreturntotheUSAin1994, my career included managing a variety of activities and projects in Woods Hole and at NOAA / NMFS headquarters in Silver Spring, MD (where I was NMFS liaison to the National Sea Grant Ofﬁce), ﬁnally concluding, after my retirement from NMFS in 2004, with continued engagement in ﬁsheries science as an editor for ICES. Having beneﬁted from experiences in science and administration and the lessons learned therein, it is a pleasure, via this article, to offer advice to young scientists contemplating potential paths to pursue in their careers.
Virtual reality and consciousness inference in dreaming Please share how this access benefits you. Your story matters

This article explores the notion that the brain is genetically endowed with an innate virtual reality generator that – through experience-dependent plasticity – becomes a generative or predictive model of the world. This model, which is most clearly revealed in rapid eye movement (REM) sleep dreaming, may provide the theater for conscious experience. Functional neuroimaging evidence for brain activations that are time-locked to rapid eye movements (REMs) endorses the view that waking consciousness emerges from REM sleep – and dreaming lays the foundations for waking perception. In this view, the brain is equipped with a virtual model of the world that generates predictions of its sensations. This model is continually updated and entrained by sensory prediction errors in wakefulness to ensure veridical perception, but not in dreaming. In contrast, dreaming plays an essential role in maintaining and enhancing the capacity to model the world by minimizing model complexity and thereby maximizing both statistical and thermodynamic efﬁciency. This perspective suggests that consciousness corresponds to the embodied process of inference, realized through the generation of virtual realities (in both sleep and wakefulness). In short, our premise or hypothesis is that the waking brain engages with the world to predict the causes of sensations, while in sleep the brain’s generative model is actively reﬁned so that it generates more efﬁcient predictions during waking. We review the evidence in support of this hypothesis – evidence that grounds consciousness in biophysical computations whose neuronal and neurochemical infrastructure has been disclosed by sleep research.
Giardiasis Epidemiology Giardiasis Epidemiology

Giardiasis is the intestinal infection caused by Giardia lamblia , in which pathogenicity was cast doubted for decades but now is recognized as one of the most common causes of diarrheal disease worldwide. Originally described as waterborne transmitted, it has been broad described as of fecal-oral, person-to-person contact, and sexual transmission also. Although it is recognized as endemic throughout the world, most cases are reported from tropical countries with regular outbreaks commonly reported from developed countries. In humans, giardiasis normally produces a self-limited infection without symptoms, but some patients may present intestinal symptoms such as diarrhea and abdominal pain, and few show symptoms long after parasites clear up. Upon diagnosis, we may choose among several effective treatment alternatives, but not every patient responds to such therapies. Hence, having specific knowledge about the epidemiology of Giardia , it is critical for its prevention, which is the best strategy to protect us against such important disease.
Relating to birds in postcolonial Australia Relating to birds in postcolonial Australia

Abstract It would be possible to construct a very convincing account of Australia’s special relationship with birds: how quite early in the nineteenth century many prominent people (and organisations) mounted some of the first environmental skirmishes around the conservation of birds; how some of our prominent poets and writers forged an aesthetic and moral connection to the land through their writings about birds; how artists such as Russell Drysdale used bird motifs to persuade Australians to adapt to our unique conditions; and how birds became cherished symbols of states and nation (Cozzolino and Rutherford 1991; Smith 1997).
Opportunistic spectrum sharing scheme for secondary WiFi-like devices in TV white spaces

— Secondary spectrum access is a promising approach to improve spectrum utilization by enabling new wireless systems to opportunistically use and efficiently share the licensed bands. This paper targets a WiFi-like reuse of available spectrum in the TV bands and proposes a novel cooperative centralized spectrum sharing scheme that enables protection for the primary users and provides efficient usage of the available spectrum for multiple coexisting secondary users. The proposed scheme relies on a Non-Linear Integer Programming (NLIP) optimization method to maximize the average SIR per secondary user. Furthermore, the sharing scheme introduces interference protection zones for primary users' protection from excessive interference. The simulation results show performance enhancements in terms of average throughput increase for the secondary users. Finally, the paper investigates the relations between secondary channels widths and the number of secondary users under strict interference constraints for primary users' protection. In this respect, the smaller step sizes for the channel widths lead to higher SIR increase regardless of the number of users.
Quantizing the geodesic flow via adapted complex structures

The geometric quantization of the geodesic flow on a compact Riemannian manifold via the BKS "dragging projection" yields the Laplacian plus a scalar curvature term. To avoid convergence issues, the standard construction involves somewhat unnatural hypotheses that do not hold in typical examples. In this paper, we use adapted complex structures to make sense of a Wick-rotated version of the dragging projection which avoids the convergence issues.
Spectroscopic Jmiovafions at the Laboratoiy for Fluorescence Dynamics

The emergence of time-resolved fluorescence techniques has been very important to the study of biochemical, biophysical and biomedical research areas. Many of the advances in these fields have been technology driven. The Laboratory for Fluorescence Dynamics (LFD) has been actively involved in development of frequency domain technology for a variety of applications. Our recent work on microwave super heterodyning detectors, fluorescence lifetime resolved spectroscopy, frequency domain fluorescence imaging microscopy, fluorescence lifetime resolved stopped-flow kinetics and global methods of data analysis is summarized in this report. We provide examples of how these new technologies are applied. In 1986, the Laboratory for Fluorescence Dynamics (LFD) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign was established as a research resource in biomedical fluorescence spectroscopy. The aims of the center are two-fold: first, provide a state-of-the-art laboratory for time resolved fluorescence measurements with technical assistance to visiting scientist/users and secondly, design, test and implement advances in the technology, especially in hardware, automation software and applications to the biomedical arts. Accomplishments in the second area are readily transferable to the service laboratory environment. This manuscript describes several technical innovations introduced at the LFD. The presentation deals with both hardware, software and discusses applications to biomedical science.
Thyroid Hormone Receptor (cid:1) and Regulation of Type 3 Deiodinase

Mice deficient in thyroid hormone receptor (cid:1) (TR (cid:1) ) display hypersensitivity to thyroid hormone (TH), with normal serum TSH but diminished serum T 4 . Our aim was to determine whether altered TH metabolismplayedaroleinthishypersensitivity.TR (cid:1) knockout(KO)micehavelowerlevelsofrT 3 ,and lower rT 3 /T 4 ratios compared with wild-type (WT) mice. These alterations could be due to increased type1deiodinase(D1)ordecreasedtype3deiodinase(D3). NodifferencesinD1mRNAexpressionand enzymatic activity were found between WT and TR (cid:1) KO mice. We observed that T 3 treatment increased D3 mRNA in mouse embryonic fibroblasts obtained from WT or TR (cid:2) KO mice, but not in those from TR (cid:1) KO mice. T 3 stimulated the promoter activity of 1.5 kb 5 (cid:1) -flanking region of the human (h) DIO3 promoterinGH3cellsaftercotransfectionwithhTR (cid:1) butnotwithhTR (cid:2) . Moreover,treatmentof GH3 cells with T 3 increased D3 mRNA after overexpression of TR (cid:1) . The region necessary for the T 3 -TR (cid:1) stimulation of the hD3 promoter (region (cid:2) 1200 to (cid:2) 1369) was identified by transfection studies in Neuro2A cells that stably overexpress either TR (cid:1) or TR (cid:2) . These results indicate that TR (cid:1) mediates the up-regulation of D3 by TH in vitro . TR (cid:1) KO mice display impairment in the regulation of D3 by TH in both brain and pituitary and have reduced clearance rate of TH as a consequence of D3 deregulation. WeconcludethattheabsenceofTR (cid:1) resultsindecreasedclearanceofTHbyD3andcontributestothe TH hypersensitivity. ( Molecular Endocrinology 25: 575–583, 2011)
and beta cells.

The peptide hormone Urocortin 3 (Ucn 3) is abundantly and exclusively expressed in mouse pancreatic beta cells where it regulates insulin secretion. Here we demonstrate that Ucn 3 first appears at embryonic day (E) 17.5 and, from approximately postnatal day (p) 7 and onwards throughout adult life, becomes a unifying and exclusive feature of mouse beta cells. These observations identify Ucn 3 as a potential beta cell maturation marker. To determine whether Ucn 3 is similarly restricted to beta cells in humans, we conducted comprehensive immunohistochemistry and gene expression experiments on macaque and human pancreas and sorted primary human islet cells. This revealed that Ucn 3 is not restricted to the beta cell lineage in primates, but is also expressed in alpha cells. To substantiate these findings, we analyzed human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived pancreatic endoderm that differentiates into mature endocrine cells upon engraftment in mice. Ucn 3 expression in hESC-derived grafts increased robustly upon differentiation into mature endocrine cells and localized to both alpha and beta cells. Collectively, these observations confirm that Ucn 3 is expressed in adult beta cells in both mouse and human and appears late in beta cell differentiation. Expression of Pdx1, Nkx6.1 and PC1/3 in hESC-derived Ucn 3 + beta cells supports this. However, the expression of Ucn 3 in primary and hESC-derived alpha cells demonstrates that human Ucn 3 is not exclusive to the beta cell lineage but is a general marker for both the alpha and beta cell lineages. Ucn 3 + hESC-derived alpha cells do not express Nkx6.1, Pdx1 or PC1/3 in agreement with the presence of a separate population of Ucn 3 + alpha cells. Our study highlights important species differences in Ucn 3 expression, which have implications for its utility as a marker to identify mature beta cells in (re)programming strategies.
the binding energy of intra/intermolecular interactions.

In previous work, we developed the local potential energy model, LPE, based on the electrostatic force and QTAIM topological data to quantify classical hydrogen bond energies. In this work, we extended the investigation to other inter/intramolecular interactions (non-conventional hydrogen bonds and others). The LPE presented high precision and linearity with supramolecular binding energy, when excluding interactions of an ion with π-bonded groups or polar molecule. The energy decomposition analysis from SAPT-DFT and LMOEDA showed that dispersion and electrostatic components are important to LPE, while polarization component impairs it. The LPE cannot be used for complexes with predominant polarization component.
Roles of EphrinB2 and EphB4 in Alveolar Bone under Initial Compressive Mechanical Stress of Dental Implant Replacement

The communication between ephrin/Eph families was recently shown to be involved in cell differentiation under mechanical stress. To understand the roles of EphrinB2 and EphB4 in osteoblast cells and alveolar bone under initial mechanical stress of dental implant replacement, first, MC3T3-E1 cells were subjected to cyclical compressive or extensive force in vitro . The expressions of EphrinB2 and EphB4 were examined by real-time RT-PCR or western blotting, together with expression of Osterix as an osteoblast differentiation marker. Next, the effects of mini-implant surfaces immobilised with EphrinB2 or EphB4 on the expression of the gene encoding Osterix in alveolar bone surrounding implants were examined by real-time RT-PCR. Osterix mRNA expression was decreased in MC3T3-E1 cells cultured under compressive conditions, compared with that under normal conditions. The mRNA and protein levels of EphrinB2 and EphB4 were increased in the cells cultured under compressive conditions. Initially, mechanical stress by torques decreased Osterix mRNA expression in alveolar bone surrounding mini-implants, compared with the control groups. Torque of 10 Nmm increased EphB4 mRNA expression compared with the control groups, while torques of 10 and 20 Nmm increased EphrinB2 mRNA expression. The mini-implant surface immobilised with EphrinB2-Fc recovered the suppression of Osterix. Taken together, the present results suggest that increased binding of EphrinB2 and EphB4 in osteoblast cells exposed to initial mechanical force, especially compressive force, may be involved in alveolar bone recovery, and may cause a gradual decrease of the primary fixation in a replaced dental implant and finally lead to stability.
PPA_A_283086 2301..2313

1Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA; 2Department of Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA; 3Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA; 4University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, USA; 5Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, Case School of Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH, USA; 6Community Partners, Cleveland Council of Black Nurses, Cleveland, OH, USA; 7Department of Nephrology and Hypertension, Clinical Hypertension Program, University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center, Cleveland, OH, USA Purpose: Adoption of technology has increased to support self-managing chronic diseases. However, behavioral interventions evaluating such technology have been understudied in African Americans with hypertension. The aim of this study was to explore a community and technology-based intervention for hypertension self-management (COACHMAN) intervention on blood pressure (BP) control and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in African Americans with hypertension. Methods: Sixty African Americans (mean age 60; 75% females) who were prescribed antihypertensive medications and owning a smartphone were randomized to the COACHMAN (n = 30) or enhanced usual care (n = 30) group for 12 weeks. COACHMAN is comprised of four components: web-based education, home BP monitoring, medication management application, and nurse counseling. Hypertension knowledge, self-efficacy, technology adoption/use, medication adherence, BP, and HRQoL scores were assessed. Results: Mean systolic and diastolic BP at baseline was 150.49 (SD = 13.89) and 86.80 (SD = 13.39), respectively. After completing the 3-month intervention to improve hypertension selfmanagement, the groups did not significantly differ in BP control and HRQoL. Clinically relevant BP reduction was observed in the intervention group. Paired t-test showed that mean medication-taking adherence scores significantly improved in the intervention group (P = 0.023) compared to the control group (P = 0.075). Conclusion: Using technology may have a positive impact on supporting hypertension selfmanagement, particularly in medication-taking adherence. Further research is warranted in a larger sample and should include standardization of medication management to isolate the effects of behavioral interventions on changes in BP. Clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT03722667.
Identiﬁcation of Anaplasma marginale Proteins Speciﬁcally Upregulated during Colonization of the Tick Vector (cid:1)

The transition between infection of the mammalian host and colonization of an arthropod vector is required for the ongoing transmission of a broad array of pathogens, from viruses to protozoa. Understanding how this transition is mediated provides opportunities to disrupt transmission through either chemotherapy or immu- nization. We used an unbiased proteomic screen to identify Anaplasma marginale proteins speciﬁcally upregulated in the tick compared to the mammalian host. Comparative mass spectrometric analysis of proteins separated by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis of uninfected and infected ISE6 cells and infected mammalian cells identiﬁed 15 proteins exclusively expressed or upregulated in tick cells. All 15 had originally been annotated as hypothetical proteins. We conﬁrmed quantitative upregulation and expression in situ within the midgut epithelial and salivary gland acinar cells of vector ticks during successful transmission. The results support the hypothesis that A. marginale gene expression is regulated by the speciﬁc host environment and, in a broader context, that the core genome evolved in the arthropod vector with differential regulation, allowing adaptation to mammalian hosts. Furthermore, the conﬁrmation of the in situ expression of candidates identiﬁed in ISE6 cell lines indicates that this approach may
Deletion of (cid:2) -Strand and (cid:3) -Helix Secondary Structure in Normal Prion Protein Inhibits Formation of Its Protease-Resistant Isoform

A fundamental event in the pathogenesis of transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSE) is the con- version of a normal, proteinase K-sensitive, host-encoded protein, PrP-sen, into its protease-resistant isoform, PrP-res. During the formation of PrP-res, PrP-sen undergoes conformational changes that involve an increase of (cid:1) -sheet secondary structure. While previous studies in which PrP-sen deletion mutants were expressed in transgenic mice or scrapie-infected cell cultures have identiﬁed regions in PrP-sen that are important in the formation of PrP-res, the exact role of PrP-sen secondary structures in the conformational transition of PrP-sen to PrP-res has not yet been deﬁned. We constructed PrP-sen mutants with deletions of the ﬁrst (cid:1) -strand, the second (cid:1) -strand, or the ﬁrst (cid:2) -helix and tested whether these mutants could be converted to PrP-res in both scrapie-infected neuroblastoma cells (Sc (cid:3) -MNB cells) and a cell-free conversion assay. Removal of the second (cid:1) -strand or the ﬁrst (cid:2) -helix signiﬁcantly altered both processing and the cellular localization of PrP-sen, while deletion of the ﬁrst (cid:1) -strand had no effect on these events. However, all of the mutants signiﬁcantly inhibited the formation of PrP-res in Sc (cid:3) -MNB cells and had a greatly reduced ability to form protease-resistant PrP in a cell-free assay system. Thus, our results demonstrate that deletion of the (cid:1) -strands and the ﬁrst (cid:2) -helix of PrP-sen can fundamentally affect PrP-res formation and/or PrP-sen processing.
Optimization of Power Consumption in SDN Networks

—Software-Deﬁned Networking (SDN) offers the possibility to carry out a more direct control of network behavior and to interact directly with the elements of the network. In this paper, the problem of optimizing the power consumption in SDN networks is addressed by looking for the most appropriate set of active switches and links, their associated rates, and the number of ﬂow entries at each SDN switch. We present a formulation for this optimization problem and a heuristic algorithm to reduce time complexity in large topologies. Energy saving values of more than 40% are reached using real trafﬁc demands data.