Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Pulmonary Hypertension, an Echo Assessment: Is it Arterial or Venous?

Introduction: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is characterized by pulmonary vascular remodeling, right heart failure, and reduced survival. PH can be PH without left ventricular (LV) dysfunction – pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) - (Dana point Class I) and PH with LV dysfunction – pulmonary venous hypertension (PVH) - (Dana point Class II). Whatever the underlying cardiac disease, the presence of PH in patients with heart failure is associated with poor prognosis. Right ventricular dysfunction by ventricular interdependence can cause LV dysfunction. Objective: We aim to provide a distinction between PAH and PVH by echocardiography. Methods: Retrospective cross-sectional single-center data of 1075 subjects having PH as defined by echocardiography was collected. These were segregated into mild, moderate, and severe categories. The same cohort of PH subjects was also segregated by E/e' derived pulmonary capillary wedge pressure (PCWP) values. Echocardiographic measurements and effort tolerance in Mets were analyzed. Data for 707 normal subjects were taken from an earlier published study on normative echocardiographic measurements of healthy Indians. Results: Our findings show that PAH and PVH can be distinguished using PCWP value >15 mmHg obtained by applying Nagueh's formulaon E/e'. Conclusion: We recommend that PCWP derived from E/e' should be reported with pulmonary artery systolic pressure measurement to distinguish between PAH and PVH.
Quality of Life in People With Subjective Cognitive Decline

Objective: Quality of life is extensively studied in older persons, but there are few studies that investigate it in people with subjective cognitive decline. Our aim was to evaluate the quality of life in a Romanian sample of individuals with subjective cognitive decline compared to controls while accounting for different possible moderators. To our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the quality of life in a Romanian subjective cognitive decline sample. Methods: We conducted an observational study to evaluate differences in the quality of life between subjective cognitive decline and controls. Participants were evaluated for subjective cognitive decline according to Jessen et al. We collected sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and information about physical activity. Quality of life was evaluated using the Short Form-36 questionnaire. Results: There were 101 participants included in the analysis with 66.33% (n = 67) in the subjective cognitive decline group. There were no differences between the social, demographic, and clinical characteristics of the individuals. The subjective cognitive decline group had a higher score on the negative emotion trait of Big Five. Individuals with subjective cognitive decline reported poorer physical functioning (P = .034), more role limitations due to physical health (P = .010) and emotional problems (P = .019), and less energy (P = .018) compared to the control group. Conclusion: Persons with subjective cognitive decline reported diminished quality of life compared to controls and differences were not explained by other sociodemographic and clinical characteristics evaluated. This area could prove to be an important target for nonpharmacological interventions in the subjective cognitive decline group.
Near-Infrared Fluorescence Imaging of Pancreatic Cancer Using a Fluorescently Labelled Anti-CEA Nanobody Probe: A Preclinical Study

Molecular fluorescence-guided surgery using near-infrared light has the potential to improve the rate of complete resection of cancer. Typically, monoclonal antibodies are being used as targeting moieties, however smaller fragments, such as single-domain antibodies (i.e., Nanobodies®) improve tumor specificity and enable tracer injection on the same day as surgery. In this study, the feasibility of a carcinoembryonic antigen-targeting Nanobody (NbCEA5) conjugated to two zwitterionic dyes (ZW800-1 Forte [ZW800F] and ZW800-1) for visualization of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) was investigated. After site-specific conjugation of NbCEA5 to the zwitterionic dyes, binding specificity was evaluated on human PDAC cell lines with flow cytometry. A dose escalation study was performed for both NbCEA5-ZW800F and NbCEA5-ZW800-1 in mice with subcutaneously implanted pancreatic tumors. Fluorescence imaging was performed up to 24 h after intravenous injection. Furthermore, the optimal dose for NbCEA5-ZW800-1 was injected in mice with orthotopically implanted pancreatic tumors. A dose-escalation study showed superior mean fluorescence intensities for NbCEA5-ZW800-1 compared to NbCEA5-ZW800F. In the orthotopic tumor models, NbCEA5-ZW800-1 accumulated specifically in pancreatic tumors with a mean in vivo tumor-to-background ratio of 2.4 (SD = 0.23). This study demonstrated the feasibility and potential advantages of using a CEA-targeted Nanobody conjugated to ZW800-1 for intraoperative PDAC imaging.
Optical Absorption, Depolarization, and Scatter of Epitaxial Single-Crystal Chemical-Vapor-Deposited Diamond at 1.064 μm

Epitaxial single-crystal chemical-vapor-deposited diamond with (100) crystal orientation is obtained from Element Six (Ascot, United Kingdom) and Apollo Diamond (Boston, Massachusetts). Both companies supply 5×5-mm squares with thicknesses of 0.35 to 1.74 mm. Element Six also provides disks with a state of the art diameter of 10 to 11 mm and a thickness of 1.0 mm. The absorption coefficient measured by laser calorimetry at 1.064 μm is 0.003 cm -1 for squares from Element Six and 0.07 cm -1 for squares from Apollo. One Apollo specimen has an absorption coefficient near those of the Element Six material. Absorption coefficients of Element Six disks are 0.008 to 0.03 cm -1 . Each square specimen can be rotated between orientations that produce minimum or maximum loss of polarization of a 1.064-μm laser beam transmitted through the diamond. Minimum loss is in the range 0 to 11% (mean=5%) and maximum loss is 8 to 27% (mean=17%). Element Six disks produce a loss of polarization in the range 0 to 4%, depending on the angle of rotation of the disk. Part of the 0.04 to 0.6% total integrated optical scatter in the forward hemisphere at 1.064 μm can be attributed to surface roughness.
Oxidative DNA damage associated with intense noise exposure in a rat

Increasing evidence suggests that noise‐induced hearing loss may be prevented with antioxidant therapy. In order to appreciate treatment constraints, a biochemical marker(s) of reactive oxygen species (ROS)‐induced damage is necessary. Without a marker, the timing of damage and biologically effective exposure(s) cannot be understood fully. This study examined the time course of ROS damage following noise exposure resulting in permanent threshold shift in a rat. Cochlea, brain, liver, serum and urine were analyzed. Oxidative DNA damage was assessed by measuring 8‐hydroxy‐2′‐deoxyguanosine (8OHdG) by high performance liquid chromatography with electrochemical detection (HPLC‐EC). Lipid peroxidation was measured via the thiobarbituric acid reactive substance’s (TBARS’s) colormetric assay for detection of aldehydes (e.g., malondialdehyde). Auditory brainstem response and distortion product otoacoustic emissions thresholds showed progressive elevation up to 3–8‐h post‐exposure, then notable recovery at 72 h, and some worsening at 672 h. 8OHdG/dG was significantly elevated in cochlea at 8‐h post‐exposure, and in the brain and liver at 72 h. TBARS were significantly elevated in serum at 72 h. This is the first evidence that oxidative DNA damage is present in cochlea following intense noise, and that the timing of damage corresponds to the timing of functional impairment.
Bayesian estimation and prediction intervals for a Rayleigh distribution under a conjugate prior

This paper is an effort to obtain Bayes estimators of Rayleigh parameter and its associated risk based on a conjugate prior (square root inverted gamma prior) with respect to both symmetric loss function (squared error loss), and asymmetric loss function (precautionary loss function). We also derive the highest posterior density (HPD) interval for the Rayleigh parameter as well as the HPD prediction intervals for a future observation from this distribution. An illustrative example to test how the Rayleigh distribution fits a real data set is presented. Finally, Monte Carlo simulations are performed to compare the performances of the Bayes estimates under different conditions.
Populist Right Parties on TikTok: Spectacularization, Personalization, and Hate Speech

Populist parties use social media as a fundamental element of their online communication strategies. This article aims to identify the strategies of right-wing populist parties and politicians on TikTok by measuring a set of features of their videos: It evaluates the presence of hate speech in these messages and the identification of certain groups as “enemies” of “the people,” and also pays special attention to the differences in engagement according to the presence of hate speech and entertaining or humoristic features. We apply a content analysis to a transnational sample (N = 293) of videos posted by the following populist right-wing parties and politicians on TikTok: Vox and Santiago Abascal (Spain), José Antonio Kast (Chile), and the UK Independence Party (UK). Findings show that while Vox and UKIP use TikTok to convey their ideology and values and to target the state as the main enemy of “the common person,” Kast used the same platform to build and project his image of leadership and to broadcast humoristic and entertaining content. Only 19% of the analyzed videos included hate speech elements. Not only was hate speech uncommon; it deterred engagement in terms of the number of comments as well. Contrarily, humour and entertainment favoured engagement. We conclude that TikTok might downplay the most controversial issues of the populist right.
Ion energization and transport associated with magnetic dipolarizations

Ion energization in the magnetotail during substorms is examined by simulating a modest substorm event that occurred on 7 February 2009. The simulation scheme combines global magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) modeling of the magnetosphere driven by realistic upstream solar wind conditions, with a large‐scale kinetics (LSK) simulation. Multiple earthward propagating dipolarizations driven by reconnection outflow jets are modeled by the MHD simulation. Ion trajectories in the LSK simulation show that ions that originated near the reconnection site first gained energy nonadiabatically and then gained energy adiabatically as they “caught up with and then rode on” the earthward propagating dipolarizations. Consequently, the high‐energy (>25 keV) ion fluxes were enhanced where and when the dipolarizations intensified. High‐speed flows in narrow channels controlled the ion earthward transport in the outer magnetosphere due to the dominant E × B drift. The mechanisms of nonlocal energization by dipolarizations and transport controlled by high‐speed flows operate similarly for electrons as described by Ashour‐Abdalla et al. (2011) and Pan et al. (2014).
Marine biological choruses observed in tropical waters near Australia

Observations of biological choruses in the ambient noise of tropical waters of the east Indian Ocean, the west Pacific Ocean, and the Timor Sea near Australia are described. These choruses occurred for a few hours at a time and had most energy at frequencies between 400 Hz and 4 kHz, with spectral peaks mainly at 800 Hz, 1.6–2 kHz, and 3 kHz. During choruses, noise spectrum levels rose up to 30 dB above the usual background noise. Statistics of occurrence of the evening choruses indicate that they would occur on most, if not all evenings at the locations of measurement and are probably fairly widespread in and near shallow waters of the region. As well as these regular evening choruses, there were also transitory choruses which were observed at various times of day over periods of a few days but not before or after. Possible sources of the choruses are discussed. There are at least three sources of the regular evening choruses, possibly fish or sea urchins. Some of the transitory choruses, spectrally simi.
Covariance functions that are stationary or nonstationary in space and stationary in time

There is a great demand for statistical modelling of phenomena that evolve in both space and time, and thus, there is a growing literature on covariance function models for spatio‐temporal processes. Although several nonseparable space–time covariance models are available in the literature, very few of them can be used for spatially anisotropic data. In this paper, we propose a new class of stationary nonseparable covariance functions that can be used for both geometrically and zonally anistropic data. In addition, we show some desirable mathematical features of this class. Another important aspect, only partially covered by the literature, is that of spatial nonstationarity. We show a very simple criteria allowing for the construction of space–time covariance functions that are nonseparable, nonstationary in space and stationary in time. Part of the theoretical results proposed in the paper will then be used for the analysis of Irish wind speed data as in HASLETT and RAFTERY (Applied Statistics, 38, 1989, 1).
Management of Post-LASIK Ectasia

Background: Corneal ectasia is a sight-threatening complication of corneal refractive surgery characterized by progressive steepening and thinning of the cornea and subsequent loss of best-corrected visual acuity. Objective: To report the clinical outcomes following treatment of post-laser in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) induced ectasia. Methods: This is a retrospective case series of 7 patients (10 eyes) which developed post-LASIK ectasia. In these cases of postoperative ectasia, the presented clinical signs were either forme fruste keratoconus, thin cornea, posterior elevation map value > +15. 0µm, or residual stromal bed < 300µm. All cases were treated with either collagen crosslinking (CXL) alone or combined with PRK or CXL and phakic intraocular implant using the Dresden protocol and a slight modification thereof. In all cases, the flap was created using the Moria M2 mechanical microkeratome (average flap thickness 118.15±12.88µm), and refractive error was corrected using the Wavelight Allegretto excimer laser. Results: Average preoperative corrected visual acuity (CDVA) was 0.75 (±0.26) Snellen. Postoperative CDVA significantly increased to 0.86 (±0.13) Snellen (p=0.04, paired t-test). One eye lost three lines of its baseline CDVA (before ectasia), while all other eyes regained lines of CDVA. All cases remained stable during the follow-up. Conclusion: Several surgical procedures are used for the management of corneal ectasia. However, the best surgical approach should be determined based on the state of progression of the disease. Although ectasia remains a potentially devastating complication after refractive surgery, most patients can regain functional visual acuity with appropriate management, and corneal transplantation is infrequently indicated.
Simplification of the Kalman filter for meteorological data assimilation

We propose a new statistical method of data assimilation that is based on a simplification of the Kalman filter equations. The forecast error covariance evolution is approximated simply by advecting the mass-error covariance field, deriving the remaining covariances geostrophically, and accounting for external model-error forcing only at the end of each forecast cycle. This greatly reduces the cost of computation of the forecast error covariance, which is the central and most expensive aspect of the Kalman filter algorithm. In simulations with a linear, one-dimensional shallow-water model and data generated artificially, the performance of the simplified filter is compared with that of the Kalman filter and the optimal interpolation (OI) method. These experiments are designed to isolate the effect of simplifying the evolution of the forecast error covariance. The simplified filter produces analyses that are nearly optimal, and represents a significant improvement over OI.
Experimental investigation on collision characteristics of dual-spray with different physical-chemical fuel properties: A case study of butanol-biodiesel fuel combination

The dual direct injection strategy can flexibly control the reactivity distributions and equivalence ratio, which shows a great potential in realizing clean and efficient combustion. However, the sprays’ collision is inevitable when the fuel sprays are injected into the combustion chamber simultaneously owing to limited in-cylinder space, which is rarely investigated. The investigation aims to explore the atomization and combustion characteristics of collision between biodiesel and butanol sprays at different injection delay times of biodiesel (0, 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2 ms). Experiments are conducted in a constant volume combustion chamber. The collision spray and combustion images are captured by optical diagnosis techniques. Several macroscopic parameters are obtained, including spray behavior, spray area, ignition delay, ignition location, flame behavior, flame lift-off length, and natural luminosity intensity. Results show that the variation of injection delay time can effectively change the spray distribution and realize the concentration stratification. The liquid-phase diffusion region increases with an increased premixed charge of butanol spray, but the total evaporation time has a tiny difference. The sprays’ collision can promote the ignition process, but the ignition location is slightly affected by the injection delay time of biodiesel. A trade-off relationship between the vapor-phase diffusion area and combustion characteristics is found. When the injection delay time exceeds 0.5 ms, a longer injection delay time can lead to a larger vapor-phase area, which causes smaller equivalent ratio, longer flame-off length, and lower luminosity intensity. However, a longer injection delay would lead to an uncomplete combustion of the n-butanol spray. At the experimental cases, the injection delay time of biodiesel should be 1/2–2/3 injection duration to realize complete combustion and small emissions.
Simulation of passive microwave wind direction signatures over the ocean using an asymmetric‐wave geometrical optics model

The geophysical nature of polarized azimuthal microwave brightness temperature signatures over the open ocean and their relation to surface wind‐driven anisotropies are investigated. The broadband nature of previously observed wind‐direction signatures suggests the predominance of a frequency‐independent thermal emission mechanism involving scattering and emission from asymmetric ocean gravity waves and ocean foam. To verify this hypothesis, an asymmetric‐wave Monte Carlo ocean surface model and a geometrical optics electromagnetic emission model of the upwelling radiation field were developed. The model incorporates the effects of ocean wave asymmetry, ocean foam, and multiple geometric scattering. Model calculations compare favorably with the results of a previous study that used data from the Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) at 19 and 37 GHz and at wind speeds of 7.9 and 12.2 m/s and at 53° incidence. The good agreement between the satellite data and the asymmetric‐wave geometrical optics model supports the hypothesis that azimuthal brightness temperature signatures at wind speeds characteristic of moderate‐to‐heavy wind conditions are to a great extent caused by ocean wave asymmetry and foam.
Acousto-optic interaction in biconical tapered fibers: shaping of the stopbands

Abstract. The effect of a gradual reduction of the fiber diameter on the acousto-optic (AO) interaction is reported. The experimental and theoretical study of the intermodal coupling induced by a flexural acoustic wave in a biconical tapered fiber shows that it is possible to shape the transmission spectrum, for example, substantially broadening the bandwidth of the resonant couplings. The geometry of the taper transitions can be regarded as an extra degree of freedom to design the AO devices. Optical bandwidths above 45 nm are reported in a tapered fiber with a gradual reduction of the fiber down to 70 μm diameter. The effect of including long taper transition is also reported in a double-tapered structure. A flat attenuation response is reported with 3-dB stopband bandwidth of 34 nm.
Real-time algorithm for small moving target detection in photoelectric image sequences

For the real-time small target detection of the photoelectric image sequences, a temporal- spatial fusion filtering algorithm is proposed. It suppresses background and enhances targets by morphologic Tophat transform in spatial domain, and detects moving target by improved frame difference method in temporal domain, and then affirms target by adaptive segmentation of the fusion result and track association. The detecting result shows the algorithm can fully take into account the characteristic of the small moving target in temporal and spatial domain, and can be more effective to detect low Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) moving small targets in complex background, reduce false alarm and resist noise disturbance.
Prognosis after Local Recurrence in Patients with Early-Stage Breast Cancer Treated without Chemotherapy

Background: Many women with early-stage breast cancer are predicted to be at sufficiently low risk for recurrence that they may forego chemotherapy. Nevertheless, some low-risk women will experience a local recurrence, and for them the risk of death increases significantly thereafter. The utility of initiating chemotherapy at the time of local recurrence has not been adequately addressed. The purpose of this study is to identify, in a hospital-based series of patients with early-stage breast cancer who were not treated with chemotherapy, those factors which predict death post local recurrence. Methods: We identified 135 women who were diagnosed with early-stage breast cancer (node-negative, <5 cm) and who did not receive chemotherapy at diagnosis and who developed a local recurrence. They were diagnosed between 1987 and 2000 and treated at Women’s College Hospital. For each patient, we abstracted information on the initial cancer (age at diagnosis, tumour size, tumour grade, ER status, PR status, HER2 status, lympho-vascular invasion, type of surgery, use of radiotherapy, tamoxifen and chemotherapy), the time from initial diagnosis to local recurrence and treatment at recurrence. The Kaplan–Meier method was used to estimate the ten-year actuarial risk of breast cancer death post recurrence. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to estimate multivariate hazard ratios for the various factors. Results: Among the 135 women in the cohort, the mean time from initial diagnosis to local recurrence was 7.8 years (range: 0.3 to 22.6 years). A total of 38 of the 135 women (28.1%) died of breast cancer a mean of 5.3 years after experiencing the local recurrence (range: 0.3 to 17 years). The ten-year breast cancer survival post local recurrence was 71% and the 15-year survival was 65%. In a multivariate analysis, it was found that factors that were significantly associated with death after local recurrence were (1) PR-negative status, (2) young age at diagnosis (<40 years) and (3) time to local recurrence less than 2 years. Nine percent of women received chemotherapy at the time of local recurrence. Conclusions: For breast cancer patients with a low baseline risk of mortality, the risk of death after an isolated local recurrence is substantial. Systemic treatment at the time of local recurrence needs further study.
Whittaker-Kotelnikov-Shannon Sampling Theorem and Aliasing Error

LetB? , p, 1? p? ∞, be the set of all functions fromLp(R) which can be continued to entire functions of exponential type ? The well known Whittaker? Kotelnikov? Shannon sampling theorem states that everyf? B? , 2can be represented asformula]in normL2(R). We prove that it is also true for allf? B? , p, 1