gebhart/patrepeval huggingface dataset:
Fusion of 3D QCA and IVUS/OCT (2011)

The combination/fusion of quantitative coronary angiography (QCA) and intravascular ultrasound (IVUS)/optical coherence tomography (OCT) depends to a great extend on the co-registration of X-ray angiography (XA) and IVUS/OCT. In this work a new and robust three-dimensional (3D) segmentation and registration approach is presented and validated. The approach starts with standard QCA of the vessel of interest in the two angiographic views (either biplane or two monoplane views). Next, the vessel of interest is reconstructed in 3D and registered with the corresponding IVUS/OCT pullback series by a distance mapping algorithm. The accuracy of the registration was retrospectively evaluated on 12 silicone phantoms with coronary stents implanted, and on 24 patients who underwent both coronary angiography and IVUS examinations of the left anterior descending artery. Stent borders or sidebranches were used as markers for the validation. While the most proximal marker was set as the baseline position for the distance mapping algorithm, the subsequent markers were used to evaluate the registration error. The correlation between the registration error and the distance from the evaluated marker to the baseline position was analyzed. The XA-IVUS registration error for the 12 phantoms was 0.03 ± 0.32 mm (P = 0.75). One OCT pullback series was excluded from the phantom study, since it did not cover the distal stent border. The XA-OCT registration error for the remaining 11 phantoms was 0.05 ± 0.25 mm (P = 0.49). For the in vivo validation, two patients were excluded due to insufficient image quality for the analysis. In total 78 sidebranches were identified from the remaining 22 patients and the registration error was evaluated on 56 markers. The registration error was 0.03 ± 0.45 mm (P = 0.67). The error was not correlated to the distance between the evaluated marker and the baseline position (P = 0.73). In conclusion, the new XA-IVUS/OCT co-registration approach is a straightforward and reliable solution to combine X-ray angiography and IVUS/OCT imaging for the assessment of the extent of coronary artery disease. It provides the interventional cardiologist with detailed information about vessel size and plaque size at every position along the vessel of interest, making this a suitable tool during the actual intervention.
Fractal properties of a partially crystalline zirconium oxide aerogel (1993)

A zirconium oxide aerogel with a 70% by weight degree of crystallinity was prepared from zirconium n-propoxide with an excess of water being used in the hydrolysis process. The small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) technique revealed that this system had a mass-fractal character. The elementary building blocks had a size of about 50 Å and displayed a nonfractal (smooth) boundary surface. The mass-fractal dimension, Dm, was found by SAXS to be equal to 1.95 (5). The novelty of this fractal system lies in the fact that the elementary blocks are made up of zirconium oxide particles with a high degree of crystallinity (preponderantly tetragonal in form). The crystalline nature of this system has allowed an interesting comparison to be made between the particle size determined by the crossover in the log I(h) versus log h SAXS plot and the crystallite size determined, by the line-broadening X-ray diffraction analysis.
Microwave plasma in hydrocarbon liquids (2006)

The generation of microwave plasma in liquid with vapor bubbles has been achieved and will soon be applied to high-speed chemical vapor deposition. Vapor bubbles are induced from an electrode by heating. The deposition rate of diamondlike carbon films depends on the pressure and the power of the microwave supply. Polycrystalline silicon carbide is synthesized on a silicon substrate in a mixture of n-dodecane and silicone oil. The dispersion of water droplets in liquid creates many pores on the silicon carbide films. The synthesis of carbon nanotubes can be achieved in liquid benzene.
Entropy coding of syntax elements related to block structures and transform coefficient levels in HEVC (2012)

The most recent video compression technology is High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC). This soon to be completed standard is a joint development by Video Coding Experts Group (VCEG) of ITU-T and Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) of ISO/IEC. As one of its major technical novelties, HEVC supports variable prediction and transform block sizes using the quadtree approach for block partitioning. In terms of entropy coding, the Draft International Standard (DIS) of HEVC specifies context-based adaptive binary arithmetic coding (CABAC) as the single mode of operation. In this paper, a description of the specific CABAC-based entropy coding part in HEVC is given that is related to block structures and transform coefficient levels. In addition, experimental results are presented that indicate the benefit of the transform-coefficient level coding design in HEVC in terms of improved coding performance and reduced complexity.
Diagnostic value and prognostic significance of protein S‐100β, melanoma‐inhibitory activity, and tyrosinase/MART‐1 reverse transcription‐polymerase chain reaction in the follow‐up of high‐risk melanoma patients (2003)

To the authors' knowledge, the current study is the first comparison of the diagnostic accuracy of currently available tumor markers in the follow-up of high-risk melanoma patients. Protein S-100beta and MIA demonstrated a higher sensitivity, specificity, and diagnostic accuracy in the diagnosis of newly occurring metastasis compared with to the tumor markers AP, LDH, and RT-PCR diagnostics. Therefore, the tumor markers S-100beta and MIA may be useful in the follow-up of disease-free Stage II and III melanoma patients.
Association of the Primary Tumor Location with the Site of Tumor Recurrence after Curative Resection of Thoracic Esophageal Carcinoma (2005)

The site of surgical failure in cases of thoracic esophageal cancer (TEC) may be affected by the vertical location of the cancer in this longitudinal organ, suggesting the need to select the mode of adjuvant therapy based on location. We classified 501 TECs (92% squamous cell carcinomas) that underwent curative surgery without preoperative treatment as 13% upper thoracic (Ut), 51% middle thoracic (Mt), and 36% lower thoracic (Lt) lesions. Recurrent disease was discovered in 180 (36%) of the patients during a postoperative survey, most frequently in the cervical nodes (19%), liver (18%), abdominal paraaortic nodes (17%), and upper mediastinal nodes (17%). Although postoperative survival rates were similar (5-year survival: Ut 51%, Mt 55%, Lt 54%), the tumor recurrence site was significantly affected by the TEC vertical location, with recurrence in the cervical and upper mediastinal nodes being most frequent for Ut and Mt cases and in the liver and abdominal paraaortic nodes for Lt cases. Insufficient surgical lymph node clearance could be assessed by the recurrence index (RI), defined as the frequency of metastasis at recurrence divided by that at surgery. The RI was significantly lower for the upper abdominal nodes (4%, 8/184) than the lower mediastinal nodes (15%, 19/123) or the upper mediastinal nodes (19%, 30/154). These findings indicated that regional tumor recurrence, corresponding to the surgical field, was more frequent in the Ut and Mt cases (53% and 51%) than the Lt cases (18%); and distant recurrence was more frequent in the Lt cases (62%) than in Ut or Mt cases (25% and 36%). Thus the vertical location of the thoracic esophageal cancer can be said to affected strongly the site of tumor recurrence after curative surgery. Regional radiotherapy might be expected to have an adjuvant effect on Ut/Mt tumors and systemic chemotherapy on Lt tumors.
Look at my new blue force-sensing shoes! (2021)

To function autonomously in the physical world, humanoid robots need high-fidelity sensing systems, especially for forces that cannot be easily modeled. Modeling forces in robot feet is particularly challenging due to static indeterminacy, thereby requiring direct sensing. Unfortunately, resolving forces in the feet of some smaller-sized humanoids is limited both by the quality of sensors and the current algorithms used to interpret the data. This paper presents light-weight, low-cost and open-source force-sensing shoes to improve force measurement for popular smaller-sized humanoid robots, and a method for calibrating the shoes. The shoes measure center of pressure (CoP) and normal ground reaction force (GRF). The calibration method enables each individual shoe to reach high measurement precision by applying known forces at different locations of the shoe and using a regularized least squares optimization to interpret sensor outputs. A NAO robot is used as our experimental platform. Experiments are conducted to compare the measurement performance between the shoes and the robot's factory-installed force-sensing resistors (FSRs), and to evaluate the calibration method over these two sensing modules. Experimental results show that the shoes significantly improve CoP and GRF measurement precision compared to the robot's built-in FSRs. Moreover, the developed calibration method improves the measurement performance for both our shoes and the built-in FSRs.
Xylanases of marine fungi of potential use for biobleaching of paper pulp (2004)

Microbial xylanases that are thermostable, active at alkaline pH and cellulase-free are generally preferred for biobleaching of paper pulp. We screened obligate and facultative marine fungi for xylanase activity with these desirable traits. Several fungal isolates obtained from marine habitats showed alkaline xylanase activity. The crude enzyme from NIOCC isolate 3 (Aspergillus niger), with high xylanase activity, cellulase-free and unique properties containing 580 U l(-1) xylanase, could bring about bleaching of sugarcane bagasse pulp by a 60 min treatment at 55 degrees C, resulting in a decrease of ten kappa numbers and a 30% reduction in consumption of chlorine during bleaching. The culture filtrate showed peaks of xylanase activity at pH 3.5 and pH 8.5. When assayed at pH 3.5, optimum activity was detected at 50 degrees C, with a second peak of activity at 90 degrees C. When assayed at pH 8.5, optimum activity was seen at 80 degrees C. The crude enzyme was thermostable at 55 degrees C for at least 4 h and retained about 60% activity. Gel filtration of the 50-80% ammonium sulphate-precipitated fraction of the crude culture filtrate separated into two peaks of xylanase with specific activities of 393 and 2,457 U (mg protein)(-1). The two peaks showing xylanase activity had molecular masses of 13 and 18 kDa. Zymogram analysis of xylanase of crude culture filtrate as well as the 50-80% ammonium sulphate-precipitated fraction showed two distinct xylanase activity bands on native PAGE. The crude culture filtrate also showed moderate activities of beta-xylosidase and alpha- l-arabinofuranosidase, which could act synergistically with xylanase in attacking xylan. This is the first report showing the potential application of crude culture filtrate of a marine fungal isolate possessing thermostable, cellulase-free alkaline xylanase activity in biobleaching of paper pulp.
AGROBACTERIUM-MEDIATED TRANSFORMATION IN CITRUS USING A NEW GFP VECTOR (2007)

A new GFP binary vector, pG52KF, was developed from the pGreen0029 vector and a gfp gene. It contained the nptll selection gene and gfp reporter gene. The pG52KF, and its two recombinant constructs, pG52KFl and pG52KF2, containing specific gene fragments from Poncirus, were used for a preliminary evaluation of Agrobacterium-mediated transformation in citrus. High transformation efficiency was observed with these constructs, while GFP fluorescence greatly facilitated the early screening of the transfomants.
Primary culture of porcine PGCs requires LIF and porcine membrane-bound stem cell factor (1998)

We studied the effect of murine leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF), human basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and porcine stem cell factor (SCF) on the survival and/or proliferation of porcine primordial germ cells (PGCs) obtained from 27-day-old embryos in vitro. PGCs were cultured in embryonic stem cell (ESC) medium supplemented with or without either LIF (1000 IU/ml) alone or LIF together with bFGF (10 ng/ml). They were seeded on mitotically inactivated feeder cells, either STO or transfected STO cells (STO#8), expressing the membrane-bound form of porcine SCF. PGCs were identified by their alkaline phosphatase (AP) activity and counted after 1, 3 and 5 days in culture. After 1 day of culture, PGCs cultured on STO#8 cells showed significantly higher survival than PGCs cultured on STO cells (p < 0.05). The combined effect of SCF and LIF caused a significant increase in PGC number by day 3 of culture when PGCs were cultured on either STO cells (p < 0.01) or STO#8 (p < 0.001). When SCF and LIF were used together with bFGF no increase in the PGC number was observed. Our results suggest that the membrane-bound form of porcine SCF plays a pivotal role in the primary culture of porcine PGCs and that bFGF is not required in vitro.
The effect of additives on the quality of white lupin–wheat silage assessed by fermentation pattern and qPCR quantification of clostridia (2017)

Abstract The efficacy of different silage additives on different mixtures of white lupin and spring wheat was investigated in four separate trials. The bicrop was harvested 96 days (trials 1 and 2) and 110 days (trials 3 and 4) after sowing. For each maturity stage, two mixtures of white lupin and spring wheat were reformed in the ratios of 1:2 and 2:1 on fresh matter ( FM ) basis respectively. The crops were treated with formic acid ( FA ), sodium nitrite–hexamine mixture (NaHe) or homofermentative lactic acid bacteria ( LAB ). The control silage was made without additive. Additives were not able to improve the quality of white lupin–wheat silage in all trials, compared with untreated silage. The treatment with LAB showed good results only at the first stage of crop maturity with sufficient amounts of water‐soluble carbohydrate in the pre‐ensiling crops. The FA treatment showed elevated butyric acid levels in all trials, which suggests that the FA application level used (4 L t −1 FM , 100% FA ) was insufficient to decrease pH enough for preventing the growth of clostridia and butyric acid fermentation. NaHe was the only additive that was able to inhibit the activity of clostridia in all trials.
Believers' estimates of God's beliefs are more egocentric than estimates of other people's beliefs (2009)

People often reason egocentrically about others' beliefs, using their own beliefs as an inductive guide. Correlational, experimental, and neuroimaging evidence suggests that people may be even more egocentric when reasoning about a religious agent's beliefs (e.g., God). In both nationally representative and more local samples, people's own beliefs on important social and ethical issues were consistently correlated more strongly with estimates of God's beliefs than with estimates of other people's beliefs (Studies 1-4). Manipulating people's beliefs similarly influenced estimates of God's beliefs but did not as consistently influence estimates of other people's beliefs (Studies 5 and 6). A final neuroimaging study demonstrated a clear convergence in neural activity when reasoning about one's own beliefs and God's beliefs, but clear divergences when reasoning about another person's beliefs (Study 7). In particular, reasoning about God's beliefs activated areas associated with self-referential thinking more so than did reasoning about another person's beliefs. Believers commonly use inferences about God's beliefs as a moral compass, but that compass appears especially dependent on one's own existing beliefs.
WSN deployments: Designing with patterns (2011)

Development of application-specific wireless monitoring systems can benefit from concept reuse and design patterns can form the enabling medium for such reuse. This paper proposes a set of five fundamental node-level patterns that resolve common problems when programming low-power embedded wireless sensing devices. The pattern set forms a framework that is aimed at ensuring simple and robust deployed systems. A qualitative evaluation is performed by identifying key design traits from several successfully deployed systems and linking these to elements of the framework.
Particle size distributions by transmission electron microscopy: an interlaboratory comparison case study (2013)

This paper reports an interlaboratory comparison that evaluated a protocol for measuring and analysing the particle size distribution of discrete, metallic, spheroidal nanoparticles using transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The study was focused on automated image capture and automated particle analysis. NIST RM8012 gold nanoparticles (30 nm nominal diameter) were measured for area-equivalent diameter distributions by eight laboratories. Statistical analysis was used to (1) assess the data quality without using size distribution reference models, (2) determine reference model parameters for different size distribution reference models and non-linear regression fitting methods and (3) assess the measurement uncertainty of a size distribution parameter by using its coefficient of variation. The interlaboratory area-equivalent diameter mean, 27.6 nm ± 2.4 nm (computed based on a normal distribution), was quite similar to the area-equivalent diameter, 27.6 nm, assigned to NIST RM8012. The lognormal reference model was the preferred choice for these particle size distributions as, for all laboratories, its parameters had lower relative standard errors (RSEs) than the other size distribution reference models tested (normal, Weibull and Rosin-Rammler-Bennett). The RSEs for the fitted standard deviations were two orders of magnitude higher than those for the fitted means, suggesting that most of the parameter estimate errors were associated with estimating the breadth of the distributions. The coefficients of variation for the interlaboratory statistics also confirmed the lognormal reference model as the preferred choice. From quasi-linear plots, the typical range for good fits between the model and cumulative number-based distributions was 1.9 fitted standard deviations less than the mean to 2.3 fitted standard deviations above the mean. Automated image capture, automated particle analysis and statistical evaluation of the data and fitting coefficients provide a framework for assessing nanoparticle size distributions using TEM for image acquisition.
Shape-based recognition of 3D point clouds in urban environments (2009)

This paper investigates the design of a system for recognizing objects in 3D point clouds of urban environments. The system is decomposed into four steps: locating, segmenting, characterizing, and classifying clusters of 3D points. Specifically, we first cluster nearby points to form a set of potential object locations (with hierarchical clustering). Then, we segment points near those locations into foreground and background sets (with a graph-cut algorithm). Next, we build a feature vector for each point cluster (based on both its shape and its context). Finally, we label the feature vectors using a classifier trained on a set of manually labeled objects. The paper presents several alternative methods for each step. We quantitatively evaluate the system and tradeoffs of different alternatives in a truthed part of a scan of Ottawa that contains approximately 100 million points and 1000 objects of interest. Then, we use this truth data as a training set to recognize objects amidst approximately 1 billion points of the remainder of the Ottawa scan.
Code Invariances and Self-Synchronized (2003)

Synchronization is an important feature in the design of high-speed Viterbi decoders for punctured convolutional codes. Since some punctured codes might show invariance (total or partial) to phase rotations or other transformations, it is difficult to determine their synchronization status using a simple method. Necessary and sufficient conditions for a code to be totally invariant to an affine class of symbol transformations have been derived by Mogre et al. in conjunction with invariance compen- sation techniques at the receiver. Detection of these invariances is usually achieved based on a synchronization pattern. In this paper, we propose a method to replace this pattern by a cyclic redundancy check code, since such codes are already present in many communications systems. We also investigate the effects of partial invariances, which can occur in several ways. After deriving some sufficient conditions for a code to exhibit partial invariance, we show that for rate convolutional codes with , the types of partial invariances considered in this paper have negligible effect on the error performance and, therefore, can be ignored at the receiver.
Constraint‐based motion synthesis for deformable models (2008)

Abstract We present a fast goal‐directed motion synthesis technique that integrates sample‐based planning methods with constraint‐based dynamics simulation using a finite element formulation to generate collision‐free paths for deformable models. Our method allows the user to quickly specify various constraints, including a desired trajectory as a sparse sequence of waypoints, and it automatically computes a physically plausible path that satisfies geometric and physical constraints. We demonstrate the performance of our algorithm by computing animated realistic motion of deformable characters and simulation of a medical procedure. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley &amp; Sons, Ltd.
DNA Computation: Theory, Practice, and Prospects (1998)

L. M. Adleman launched the field of DNA computing with a demonstration in 1994 that strands of DNA could be used to solve the Hamiltonian path problem for a simple graph. He also identified three broad categories of open questions for the field. First, is DNA capable of universal computation? Second, what kinds of algorithms can DNA implement? Third, can the error rates in the manipulations of the DNA be controlled enough to allow for useful computation? In the two years that have followed, theoretical work has shown that DNA is in fact capable of universal computation. Furthermore, algorithms for solving interesting questions, like breaking the Data Encryption Standard, have been described using currently available technology and methods. Finally, a few algorithms have been proposed to handle some of the apparently crippling error rates in a few of the common processes used to manipulate DNA. It is thus unlikely that DNA computation is doomed to be only a passing curiosity. However, much work remains to be done on the containment and correction of errors. It is far from clear if the problems in the error rates can be solved sufficiently to ever allow for general-purpose computation that will challenge the more popular substrates for computation. Unfortunately, biological demonstrations of the theoretical results have been sadly lacking. To date, only the simplest of computations have been carried out in DNA. To make significant progress, the field will require both the assessment of the practicality of the different manipulations of DNA and the implementation of algorithms for realistic problems. Theoreticians, in collaboration with experimentalists, can contribute to this research program by settling on a small set of practical and efficient models for DNA computation.
Dithieno[a,e]pentalenes: Highly Antiaromatic Yet Stable π‐Electron Systems without Bulky Substituents (2020)

Abstract Invited for the cover of this issue are Aiko Fukazawa and co‐workers at Kyoto University and Nagoya University. The image depicts the π‐electrons as people to highlight the effect of fused aromatic rings in the antiaromatic π‐electron systems. Read the full text of the article at 10.1002/chem.202004244 .