Validating or accessing the accuracy of soft classification maps has rapidly developed over the past few years. This assessment employs a soft error matrix as generalized from the traditional, hard classification error matrix. However, the impact of positional error on the soft classification is uncertain and whether the well-accepted half-pixel registration accuracy is suitable for the soft cl...

purpose: to evaluate the effect of  patch therapy on visual acuity in adults with ametropic amblyopia. methods: this randomized clinical trial was performed on 66 patients with unilateral ametropic amblyopia aged 9 to 35 years reffered to a clinic in shahroud. the patients were randomly assigned to two groups. in the treatment group, based on the visual acuity of the amblyopic eye, 3-6 hours da...

STUDY QUESTION Are circulating microparticles (MPs) altered in young women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)? SUMMARY ANSWER Women with PCOS have elevated concentrations of circulating platelet-derived MPs, which exhibit increased annexin V binding and altered microRNA (miR) profiles compared with healthy volunteers. WHAT IS KNOWN ALREADY Some studies have shown that cardiovascular risk...

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a prototypic autoimmune disease characterized by circulating autoantibodies and the formation of immune complexes. In these responses, the selecting self-antigens likely derive from the remains of dead and dying cells, as well as from disturbances in clearance. During cell death/activation, microparticles (MPs) can be released to the circulation. Previous M...

Painting style transformation aims to produce a painting in a particular artist’s style from a picture or other paintings. In the previous implementations of example-based painting style transfer, users had to manually select the patches from example patches. It is time-consuming and subjective for a user to select proper patches from a large number of patches. This paper develops a patch-based...

Lipoprotein-apheresis (apheresis) removes LDL-cholesterol in patients with severe dyslipidemia. However, reduction is transient, indicating that the long-term cardiovascular benefits of apheresis may not solely be due to LDL removal. Microparticles (MPs) are submicron vesicles released from the plasma membrane of cells. MPs, particularly platelet-derived MPs, are increasingly being linked to th...

PULMONARY EDEMA FLUID is not just water but is instead a complex biological medium. The daedal nature and variability of its makeup are particularly apparent when samples of alveolar edema or bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from patients with acute lung injury (ALI)/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) are examined compared with those from subjects with hydrostatic (“cardiogenic”) pulmonary ...

BACKGROUND Treatments for mucopolysaccharidoses (MPSs) have increased longevity, but coronary artery disease (CAD) and cardiovascular complications cause mortality in a high percentage of patients. Non-invasive measures of sub-clinical atherosclerosis, such as carotid intima-media thickness (cIMT) and arterial stiffness, may be useful for prediction of CAD outcomes in MPS patients. OBJECTIVES...

Two experiments were conducted to determine effects of feeding corncobs of various mean particle size (MPS) on ruminal, digestive and metabolic characteristics of early-weaned lambs fed pelleted 74.9% concentrate:25.1% corncob diets. The MPS of corncobs in diets was 6.5, 5.4, 1.4 and .8 mm, respectively. As particle size decreased, percentage starch decreased and percentage neutral detergent fi...

BACKGROUND Serum heparin cofactor II-thrombin complex (HCII-T) is an emerging biomarker for mucopolysaccharidosis disease (MPS I and MPS II). METHODS Seventeen cases (6 MPS I and 11 MPS II) and sixty healthy controls were enrolled in study, conducted from September 2008 to December 2012. The mean ± SD age of MPS1 (n=6, 5 males) and MPS II was 7.02 ± 3.25 and 5.2 ± 2.15 years, respectively. Di...