Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Radiomic Features on Prostatic Multiparametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging Enable Progression Risk in Patients on Active Surveillance: A Pilot Study

Purpose: Active Surveillance (AS) for not clinically significant prostate cancer (ncs-PCa) has increased worldwide in the last 10 years. However, about 30-40% patients experience progression to clinically significant prostate cancer (csPCa). To date, there is no validated protocol for follow-up of AS patients. Hence quantitative analysis for imaging data using radiomics has become an emerging paradigm. Quantitative radiomics allows for the extraction of more advanced shape features. Our aim was to assess which shape features derived from MRI index lesions correlate with risk progression to csPCa, in patients on AS. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively enrolled 55 patients’ ncs-PCa, according to Epstein criteria. All patients underwent internal AS protocol: PSA every 3 months; MRI at 9 months and then yearly; confirmatory biopsy at 12 months. Diagnosis of ISUP GG>2 or high-volume ISUP GG1 disease (defined as increase >20% volume disease from baseline biopsy) on confirmatory biopsy were considered as progression to csPCa. All MRIs were evaluated and manually contoured by 2 expert radiologists at our institution. Statistical analysis evaluated 270 radiomic features, extracted from lesion index after tridimensional segmentation. Predictive models were created with the best performing radiomic features and clinical variables, considering the area under the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC). Results: Progression rate to csPCa was 40% (22/55), at median follow up of 2 years. Univariate analysis showed 10 radiomic features that were found to be significantly associated to progression to csPCa (5 extracted from DWI and 5 from T2w MR maps). The predictive model with the two best performing radiomic features showed an AUC of 0.76 (95% CI of 0.62-0.89) in predicting progression to csPCa, with a sensitivity of 76.2% and a specificity of 66.7%. On multivariate analysis, age was significantly associated to progression. Predictive hybrid models showed AUC of 0.75 (age + one radiomic feature) and 0.79 (age + two radiomic features).
A new method of measuring static field distribution using modified Fourier NMR imaging

A new method for mapping the static magnetic field of NMR imagers is presented. The method uses a conventional Fourier imaging pulse-sequence with the exception that the time interval between the 90 degrees and 180 degrees pulses does not equal that between the 180 degrees pulse and spin-echo formation. In images obtained from the pulse sequence, the difference between those two time intervals causes phase shifts that depend on the static magnetic field distribution. Thus, the information on the field distribution can be extracted from these phase shifts. This method is quicker and more easily implemented than the method proposed by Maudsley et al. (1979, 1983, 1984).
Electron irradiation effects on electrical and optical properties of sol-gel prepared ZnO films

The effects of electron beam irradiation on the electrical and the optical properties of zinc oxide (ZnO) and aluminum-doped zinc oxide (ZnO:Al) thin films, prepared by the sol-gel technique, were investigated. The grain size, surface morphology, sheet resistance, optical constants, absorption edge, and direct and indirect optical band gaps of these films were analyzed before and after exposure to electron beam. The decrease in the structural homogeneity and the crystallinity of the films after exposure to electron irradiation is observed. The irradiation causes increase in the sheet resistance and blueshift in the absorption edge for both ZnO and ZnO:Al films. The change in carrier concentration due to doping as well as the exposure to electron beam are responsible for the modified electrical and optical properties.
Experimental demonstration of an isotropic metamaterial super lens with negative unity permeability at 8.5 MHz

We report a low frequency magnetic metamaterial super lens operating at 8.5 MHz. The super lens, composed of a slab of metamaterial with an isotropic effective permeability of negative unity, is capable of resolving two closely spaced magnetic sources that are indistinguishable in the absence of the lens, while simultaneously increasing the magnetic field strength observed in the image plane. Measurements of a prototype demonstrated the increased field strength and a resolution of 1/441 wavelengths, representing a new state-of-the-art in metamaterial-assisted near-field imaging.
Toward a dynamical understanding of planetary-scale flow regimes.

Abstract A strategy for diagnosing and interpreting flow regimes that is firmly rooted in dynamical theory is presented and applied to the study of observed and modeled planetary-scale regimes of the wintertime circulation in the Northern Hemisphere. The method assumes a nonlinear dynamical model of the atmospheric motion, and determines a subspace of the phase space of the model in which multiple quasi-stationary solutions of the equations of motion are likely to be located. The axes that generate this subspace are the vectors that possess the smallest amplitude of the time derivative computed from a linearized version of the model, using the time-mean state of the system as a basic state. These vectors are called here “neutral vectors,” and are shown to be eigenvectors of a self-adjoint operator derived from the linearized model. As a prototype of a dynamical system with quadratic nonlinearity relevant to atmospheric dynamics, the three-variable convection model that generates the well-known Lorenz attr.
Electron injection by a nanowire in the bubble regime

The triggering of wave-breaking in a three-dimensional laser plasma wake (bubble) is investigated. The Coulomb potential from a nanowire is used to disturb the wake field to initialize the wave-breaking. The electron acceleration becomes more stable and the laser power needed for self-trapping is lowered. Three-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations were performed. Electrons with a charge of about 100 pC can be accelerated stably to energy about 170 MeV with a laser energy of 460 mJ. The first step towards tailoring the electron beam properties such as the energy, energy spread, and charge is discussed. (C) 2007 American Institute of Physics.
From wind to superwind - The evolution of mass-loss rates for Mira models

Dynamical atmosphere models were calculated for a large grid of variables with Mira-like properties satisfying the Iben radius-luminosity-mass relationship for evolving AGB stars. Their masses ranged from 0.7 to 2.4 solar masses, and their periods from 150 to 800 days. All were fundamental-mode pulsators, had solar metallicity, and included effects of dust. The mass-loss rate increases as an approximately exponential function of time, reaching 0.00001-0.0001 solar masses/yr. Further evolution is dominated by the powerful wind, which strips the star's envelope from the core. This 'superwind', a remarkably robust effect, occurs for all initial stellar masses and all modeling parameters that have been tested. Models with very low metallicity also show the effect, but at higher luminosities, which has intriguing implications for the number of supernovae in early low-metallicity populations and for the chemical evolution of galaxies.
Room temperature operation of InAs/AlSb quantum cascade lasers

The room temperature operation of InAs∕AlSb quantum cascade lasers is reported. The structure, grown by molecular beam epitaxy on an InAs substrate, is based on a vertical transition design and a low loss n+-InAs plasmon enhanced waveguide. The lasers emitting near 4. 5μm operate in pulse regime up to 300K. The threshold current density of 3.18-mm-long lasers is 1.5kA∕cm2 at 83K and 9kA∕cm2 at 300K.
: Reflexions on perception-action in the creative process of Entre voos e quedas

This article reflects on the artistic research that originated the video-performance Entre voos e quedas . In this research, the interaction between the authors during the creative process is discussed anchored on a perception-action perspective, even when the authors were apart during the COVID-19 pandemics. Also discussed is how our creative approach is anchored in a multi-modal perspective. This is because visual and sound perception and visual and sound elements were connected from two environments, approaching the concept of affordances.
An Overview of Vibration Analysis Techniques for the Fault Diagnostics of Rolling Bearings in Machinery

The perfection of methods and means of nondestructive testing and technical diagnostics is determined by the level of development of science and modern industrial technologies. The desire to develop technologies determines the extent and degree to which the monitoring of the state of substances, materials, products—and now the state of the natural environment—are becoming increasingly relevant. The methods and means of condition monitoring and the diagnostics of rolling bearings have been in development for more than 60 years. Despite some successes, however, there is currently no information concerning the veracity of means to completely resolve the bearing diagnostics problem. This paper provides a fairly brief overview of methods and means for monitoring the condition and diagnosis of rolling bearings and also describes one of the newest trends in this field—the analysis of the properties of the characteristic function of vibroacoustic (VA) signals in order to determine the condition of the objects of control and, in particular, rolling bearings. It is shown that the magnitude of the module and the area of the characteristic function of the VA signal are very effective criteria for assessing the technical condition of a rolling bearing.
Second-order convergence analysis of stochastic adaptive linear filtering

The convergence of an adaptive filtering vector is studied, when it is governed by the mean-square-error gradient algorithm with constant step size. We consider the mean-square deviation between the optimal filter and the actual one during the steady state. This quantity is known to be essentially proportional to the step size of the algorithm. However, previous analyses were either heuristic, or based upon the assumption that successive observations were independent, which is far from being realistic. Actually, in most applications, two successive observation vectors share a large number of components and thus they are strongly correlated. In this work, we deal with the case of correlated observations and prove that the mean-square deviation is actually of the same order (or less) than the step size of the algorithm. This result is proved without any boundedness or barrier assumption for the algorithm, as it has been done previously in the literature to ensure the nondivergence. Our assumptions are reduced to the finite strong-memory assumption and the finite-moments assumption for the observation. They are satisfied in a very wide class of practical applications.
Optimization of Reed-Muller logic functions

Two algorithms are presented, the first is a technique to determine good, though not necessarily optimum, fixed polarity Reed-Muller expansions of completely specified boolean functions. The second algorithm determines the allocations of the ‘don't care’ terms of incompletely specified boolean functions resulting in optimum positive polarity Reed-Muller expansions. Additionally, investigations are made into combining these two techniques to determine fixed polarity Reed-Muller expansions of incompletely specified boolean functions. Results are presented which show the effectiveness of the techniques and comparisons are made with existing methods.
Effects of laser therapy and Grimaldi’s muscle shortening maneuver on spasticity in central nervous system injuries

Background an Aims: For 2003 year until today we treated hundreds of patients with Central Nervous System Injuries (CNSI), using Non-Surgical Laser Therapy (NSLT) obtaining good results in terms of sensibility and movement. In order to increase muscle strength and to further explore new emerging synergies, we have also started using a physical therapy practice based on the most current knowledge about the motor control, called Grimaldi’s Muscle Shortening Maneuver (GMSM). Spasticity is often the most disabling symptom and the current therapies are still not able to heal it at all. The goal of our study is to suggest a new way of treatment of spasticity, supporting it with objective measurements of muscle thresholds. Materials and Methods: In 2016-2017, 36 patients with traumatic or degenerative CNSI were enrolled. Lasers used were 808 nm, 10600 nm, and 1064 nm, applied with a first cycle of 20 sessions, four a day. Patients were subjected to Grimaldi’s Muscle Shortening Maneuver (MSM) twice a day, ten sessions at all, working selectively on hypertonic muscles and their antagonists. Before treatment, tonic stretch reflex thresholds (TSRTs) in Gastrocnemius Lateralis (GL) were assessed through a surface electromyography (sEMG) device paired with an electrogoniometer. Antagonist muscle force (Tibialis Anterioris) was assessed by some electronic hand-held dynamometers. For the clinical measure, we used the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS). All tests have been performed at the baseline (before starting treatments), after one week (at the end of the last treatment) and after a month. Results: Results were considered positive if the instrumental assessment procedure showed modifications in TSRT values and subjects improved their antagonist muscle strength. Results showed modifications in TSRT values at every follow up. The average comparison between the follow-ups was always statistically significant (p .000). The increase in Tibialis Anterioris muscle strength was statistically significant as well (p .000). MAS showed some differences between followups but not all of them are statistically significant (T0-T1 p .063, T1-T2 p .001, T0-T2 p .000). Encouraging results suggest a possible correlation between laser and MSM therapies and modifications of TSRT in spastic muscles. Conclusion: Associating laser treatment and Grimaldi’s Muscle Shortening Maneuver (MSM) seems to be effective on spasticity in patients affected by traumatic or degenerative CNSI. Obviously, this kind of study design showed a lot of limits however this clinical series could be an important hint for every researcher working in the complex field of spasticity, a symptom that is poorly defined and hardly treated.
The stationary solution of a random dynamical model

This paper studies the stationary probability density function (PDF) solution of a nonlinear business cycle model subjected to random shocks of Gaussian white-noise type. The PDF solution is controlled by a Fokker–Planck–Kolmogorov (FPK) equation, and we use exponential polynomial closure (EPC) method to derive an approximate solution for the FPK equation. Numerical results obtained from EPC method, better than those from Gaussian closure method, show good agreement with the probability distribution obtained with Monte Carlo simulation including the tail regions.
Children and adolescents with diabetes at Tygerberg Hospital – at risk of cardiovascular complications?

Background. In South Africa, the prevalence of dyslipidaemia and hypertension (HT) in paediatric diabetes patients is unknown. Objectives. To determine the prevalence of dyslipidaemia and HT in paediatric diabetic patients seen at Tygerberg Hospital (TBH) and establish whether either is associated with body mass index (BMI), glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) or duration of diabetes. Further, to determine whether the prevalence differs between two specified periods.Methods. A retrospective study of 154 diabetic patients, aged 1 - 19 years, seen at TBH between 2007 and 2017, was undertaken. The following data were recorded: age; sex; duration of disease (time since diagnosis); height; weight; blood pressure; HbA1c; high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C); triglycerides (TG); and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). Results. More than half of the patients (57.8%; n=89/154; 95% confidence interval (CI) 51.7 - 65.0) had dyslipidaemia, 16.3% (n=24/147) had low HDL-C levels, 53.8% (n=78/145) had high LDL-C levels and 14.9% (n=22/148) had raised TG levels. Nearly half of the patients (48.7%; n=75/154; 95% CI 41.6 - 55.1) were hypertensive and 93.5% (n=144/154) were poorly controlled (HbA1c >7.5%). Dyslipidaemia was not associated with HT or BMI percentile and its prevalence did not change between the two specified periods. Prevalence of dyslipidaemia and HT was not associated with duration of diabetes. About one-third (30.8% (n=4/13); 95% CI 11.9 - 59.3) of the pre-adolescents and 60.3% (n=85/141; 95% CI 51.9 - 68.1) of the adolescents had dyslipidaemia (p=0.04). Dyslipidaemia was diagnosed in 62.6% (n=82/131) of adolescents with poorly controlled diabetes (p=0.04) and in 71.7% (95% CI 59.0 - 81.7) of patients ≥16 years of age (p=0.005). Conclusions. Poor glycaemic control, dyslipidaemia and HT are common in diabetic children, putting them at risk of cardiovascular complications in adulthood.
Penerapan Case Based Reasoning Untuk Mendiagnosa Penyakit Pada Ternak Babi Menggunakan Metode Naive Bayes

Pertumbuhan populasi ternak babi di Provinsi NTT meningkat tiap tahunnya, tetapi tidak seimbang dengan pemeliharan kesehatan dari ternak babi yang ada. Salah satu cara untuk meningkatkan pemahaman dan pemeliharaan kesehatan ternak babi kepada peternak adalah dengan menggunakan sistem Case Based Reasoning (CBR). Penelitian ini menggunakan data yang terdiri dari 196 data rekam medis, 7 jenis penyakit dan 33 gejala penyakit yang menyerang ternak babi. Tingkat kemiripan dapat ditentukan dengan cara indexing dan non indexing menggunakan K-Nearest Neighbor (KNN). Indexing merupakan proses pengelompokkan kasus yang ada berdasarkan kelas yang telah ditentukan, sedangkan non indexing merupakan proses tanpa pengelompokkan kasus. Pada pengujian sistem menggunakan K-Fold terdapat 2 hasil pengujian yaitu hasil pengujian secara indexing dan non indexing. Berdasarkan pengujian didapatkan nilai rata-rata akurasi 96,4% dan rata-rata similarity 81,13 dalam waktu 0,114 detik pada pengujian menggunakan indexing dan nilai rata-rata akurasi 98,7% dan rata-rata similarity 83,25% dalam waktu 0,132 detik pada pengujian menggunakan non indexing.
On the interpretation of the soft X-ray background - The effects of an embedded cloud geometry

The existing observational data on the soft X-ray background are reexamined within the framework of a simple model that describes the basic embedded geometry expected in a supernova-dominated ISM. Formal expressions for the first and second statistical moments of the soft X-ray intensity are derived and are used to evaluate quantitatively the constraints imposed by the observational characteristics of the background. The shape of the intensity versus absorbing column density anticorrelation, the apparent lack of an energy dependence to this shape, the observed fluctuations in the soft X-ray intensities, and the observed brightening in the background toward the Galactic poles are considered. The implications of these constraints on the goemetry for models of the hot phase of the ISM are discussed. 45 references.
A contribuição teórico-metodológica da "Vª Jornadas Interdisciplinarias de Estudios Agrarios y Agroindustriales"

O presente relato de experiência destaca a estrutura, bem como as contribuições teórico-metodológicas das "V Jornadas Interdisciplinarias de Estudios Agrarios y Agroindustriales", evento organizado a cada dois anos, que aconteceu de 7 a 9 de novembro de 2007 na Universidade de Buenos Aires (UBA), sob responsabilidade da Faculdade de Economia, onde estiveram presentes centenas de pesquisadores latino-americanos.
Asymmetrical Effects of Real Exchange Rate Volatility during Covid-19 Pandemic on the Demand for Money in Zimbabwe

The understanding of symmetrical or asymmetrical effects of exchange rate volatility improves the effectiveness of macroeconomic management policies. This study examines the long-run asymmetrical effects of exchange rate volatility on real demand for money in Zimbabwe, using monthly data from January 2018 to September 2020. Exchange rate shocks are calculated by decomposing exchange rate volatility measure into positive and negative components to examine their short-run and long-run effects and to determine whether the long-run effects of the components of exchange rate movements are symmetrical or asymmetrical. The linear ARDL and the non-linear ARDL models are estimated. The study employs the F-bounds test to confirm the longrun relationship and the Wald test for the asymmetrical effect. The results show that exchange rate depreciation in Zimbabwe has symmetrical effects on real demand for money. Thus, exchange rate policies in Zimbabwe should assume linearity in the passthrough effects on real demand for money. JEL Classification: E41; E52; E6
Centrifugal instability of semidilute non-Brownian fiber suspensions

Linear stability of the Taylor–Couette (TC) flow of semidilute non-Brownian suspension is investigated by utilizing the fiber orientation model developed by Hinch and Leal [J. Fluid Mech. 76, 187 (1976)] in conjunction with a quadratic and hybrid closure proposed by Advani and Tucker [J. Rheol. 34, 367 (1990)]. It is found that irrespective of the closure approximation used the fiber additives suppress the centrifugal TC instability, i.e., the critical Reynolds number (Re) increases with the fiber volume fraction and aspect ratio as well as the interfiber interaction coefficient. This increase in the critical Re is significantly larger than that in the total viscosity, except for very small values of the volume fraction and the interaction coefficient. The enhanced stabilization can be attributed to the fact that the suspension develops negative first and second normal stresses in the TC flow when the inner cylinder rotates and the outer one is stationary, i.e., the fluid is in a state of compression. Mor.
Robust Decision Making for Autonomous Vehicles at Highway On-Ramps: A Constrained Adversarial Reinforcement Learning Approach

Reinforcement learning has demonstrated its potential in a series of challenging domains. However, many real-world decision making tasks involve unpredictable environmental changes or unavoidable perception errors that are often enough to mislead an agent into making suboptimal decisions and even cause catastrophic failures. In light of these potential risks, reinforcement learning with application in safety-critical autonomous driving domain remains tricky without ensuring robustness against environmental uncertainties (e.g., road adhesion changes or measurement noises). Therefore, this paper proposes a novel constrained adversarial reinforcement learning approach for robust decision making of autonomous vehicles at highway on-ramps. Environmental disturbance is modelled as an adversarial agent that can learn an optimal adversarial policy to thwart the autonomous driving agent. Meanwhile, observation perturbation is approximated to maximize the variation of the perturbed policy through a white-box adversarial attack technique. Furthermore, a constrained adversarial actor-critic algorithm is presented to optimize an on-ramp merging policy while keeping the variations of the attacked driving policy and action-value function within bounds. Finally, the proposed robust highway on-ramp merging decision making method of autonomous vehicles is evaluated in three stochastic mixed traffic flows with different densities, and its effectiveness is demonstrated in comparison with the competitive baselines.