Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
An effi-cient representation for surface details

This paper describes an efﬁcient representation for real-time mapping and rendering of surface details onto arbitrary polygonal models. The surface details are informed as depth maps, leading to a technique with very low memory requirements and not involving any changes of the model’s original geometry ( i.e. , no vertices are created or displaced). The algorithm is performed in image space and can be efﬁciently implemented on current GPUs, allowing extreme close-ups of both the surfaces and their silhouettes. The mapped details exhibit correct self-occlusions, shadows and inter-penetrations. In the proposed approach, each vertex of the polygonal model is enhanced with two coefﬁcients representing a quadric surface that locally approximates the object’s geometry at the vertex. Such coefﬁcients are computed during a pre-processing stage using a least-squares ﬁtting algorithm and are interpolated during rasterization. Thus, each fragment contributes a quadric surface for a piecewise-quadric object-representation that is used to produce correct renderings of geometrically-detailed surfaces and sil-houettes. The proposed technique contributes an effective solution for using graphics hardware for image-based rendering.
Interleukin-25 inhibits interleukin-12 production and Th1 cell-driven inflammation in the gut.

BACKGROUND & AIMS During the pathogenesis of Crohn's disease (CD), interleukin (IL)-12, a cytokine produced by mucosal CD14+ monocyte-like cells, promotes tissue-damaging T helper cell (Th) 1-mediated inflammation through mechanisms that are not fully understood. IL-25 promotes Th2 cell responses by activating major histocompatibility complex class II-positive non-T and non-B cells. Because Th1 and Th2 cells, and the cytokines they release, are often mutually antagonistic, we examined whether IL-25 affects IL-12 production or Th1 cell-mediated inflammation in the gut. METHODS Studies were performed using colonic samples from patients and mice with peptidoglycan (PGN)-, 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulphonic acid (TNBS)-, or oxazolone-induced colitis. IL-25 receptor (IL-25R) levels were evaluated in intestinal lamina propria mononuclear cells by flow cytometry, and IL-25 levels were measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction, immunoblotting, and immunohistochemistry. Mucosal CD14+ cells from patients with CD were incubated with IL-25 and/or lipopolysaccharide or PGN. Mice were injected with IL-25, and some mice first received injections of an IL-13 blocking antibody. Cytokines were quantified by real-time polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS CD14+ cells from the mucosa of CD patients expressed IL-25R and responded to IL-25 by decreasing the synthesis of IL-12 and IL-23. IL-25 prevented PGN-induced colitis in mice. IL-25 induced IL-13 production in the colon, but IL-13 was not required for suppression of PGN colitis. IL-25 ameliorated TNBS- and oxazolone-colitis. Patients with CD or ulcerative colitis produced significantly less IL-25 compared with controls. CONCLUSIONS IL-25 inhibits CD14+ cell-derived cytokines and experimental colitis. IL-25 could be a useful treatment of CD and ulcerative colitis.
Bandwidth-aware Prefetching for Proactive Multi-video Preloading and Improved HAS Performance

This paper considers the problem of providing users playing one streaming video the option of instantaneous and seamless playback of alternative videos. Recommendation systems can easily provide a list of alternative videos, but there is little research on how to best eliminate the startup time for these alternative videos. The problem is motivated by services that want to retain increasingly impatient users, who frequently watch the beginning of multiple videos, before viewing a video to the end. We present the design, implementation, and evaluation of an HTTP-based Adaptive Streaming (HAS) solution that provides careful prefetching and buffer management. We also present the design and evaluation of three fundamental policy classes that provide different tradeoffs between how aggressively new alternative videos are prefetched versus the importance of ensuring high playback quality. We show that our solution allows us to reduce the startup times of alternative videos by an order of magnitude and effectively adapt the quality such as to ensure the highest possible playback quality of the video being viewed. By improving the channel utilization we also address the discrimination problem that HAS clients often suffer from, allowing us to in some cases simultaneously improve the playback quality of the video being viewed and provide the value-added service of allowing instantaneous playback of the prefetched alternative videos.
Computation of the Similarity Class of the p-Curvature

The p-curvature of a system of linear differential equations in positive characteristic p is a matrix that measures how far the system is from having a basis of polynomial solutions. We show that the similarity class of the p-curvature can be determined without computing the p-curvature itself. More precisely, we design an algorithm that computes the invariant factors of the p-curvature in time quasi-linear in √ p. This is much less than the size of the p-curvature, which is generally linear in p. The new algorithm allows to answer a question originating from the study of the Ising model in statistical physics.
Thermal effects on mild wear transition in dry sliding of aluminium 7075-short glass fibre composites

Abstract The unlubricated sliding high temperature wear behaviour of A17075 alloy composites reinforced with short E-glass fibre was evaluated. A17075-glass composites were prepared by the liquid metallurgical technique with 2, 4 and 6 per cent by weight. A high temperature sliding wear apparatus, with temperature range 30-200°C, was used to evaluate the wear rate. Results indicated that addition of short glass fibre to A17075 alloy not only delays the transition wear (transition between mild and severe wear) but also reduces the wear rate. However, in both unreinforced alloy and reinforced composites, the wear rates increased with increases in the load, operating temperature and sliding speed. Increase in the applied load and operating temperature increased the wear severity by changing the wear mechanism from adhesion wear to debris cracking induced delamination wear. The observations have been explained using scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and energy-dispersive spectroscopy analysis of the worn surfaces and the debris.
Charge Transport in Random Media and Boltzmann Limits for Single Particle and Manybody Models (Applications of Renormalization Group Methods in Mathematical Sciences)

Based on three lectures given at the conference “Renormalization Group Methods in the Mathematical Sciences” at RIMS, Kyoto University, in September 2009, we survey the results in [13, 14, 15] addressing the kinetic scaling limits and effective Boltzmann equations for the weakly disordered Anderson model. Moreover, we present related results for ideal Fermi gases in random media, based on a joint work with I. Sasaki, [16], and for Fermi gases in random media with dynamical Hartree-Fock interactions, based on a collaboration with I. Rodnianski, [17].
Long-term follow-up of patients with chronic pancreatitis and K-ras gene mutation detected in pancreatic juice.

BACKGROUND & AIMS Conflicting reports have raised the question whether K-ras gene mutations in chronic pancreatitis are related to the development of pancreatic neoplasm. The aim of the present study was to clarify this issue by surveying patients with chronic pancreatitis and K-ras gene mutation over 4 years. METHODS K-ras point mutations at codon 12 in duodenal juices obtained during exocrine function tests were examined by enriched polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism and direct DNA sequence analysis, and long-term follow-up of these patients was performed. RESULTS K-ras gene mutation was found in 20 of 54 patients (37%) with chronic pancreatitis. The types of mutation were GAT in 7, GTT in 11, and TGT in 2 patients. Pancreatic neoplasm occurred in none of the mutation-positive patients over a mean follow-up period of 78 months. CONCLUSIONS K-ras gene mutation in patients with chronic pencreatitis did not seem to be related to the development of pancreatic neoplasm during the follow-up period, and analysis of K-ras gene mutation seems of little use for diagnosing pancreatic neoplasm in patients with chronic pancreatitis.
The influence of blood on targeted microbubbles

The ability to successfully target the delivery of drugs and other therapeutic molecules has been a key goal of biomedical research for many decades. Despite highly promising in vitro results, however, successful translation of targeted drug delivery into clinical use has been extremely limited. This study investigates the significance of the characteristics of whole blood, which are rarely accounted for in vitro assays, as a possible explanation for the poor correlation between in vitro and in vivo experiments. It is shown using two separate model systems employing either biochemical or magnetic targeting that blood causes a substantial reduction in targeting efficiency relative to saline under the same flow conditions. This finding has important implications for the design of targeted drug delivery systems and the assays used in their development.
Optimal designs for two-color microarray experiments in multi-factorial models

Two-color microarray experiments form an important tool in gene expression analysis. They are often used to identify candidate genes that can be made accountable for the genesis of a certain disease. Due to the high costs of microarray experiments it is fundamental to design these experiments carefully and specifically give instructions, which samples should be allocated on the same microarray. Thereby, two samples are hybridized together on one array and the assignment of samples to arrays influences the precision of the results. Therefore, design issues for microarray experiments have been investigated intensively in the last years. However, only few authors, e.g., Stanzel [37], focused on more than one factor of interest. We extend Stanzel’s work and derive approximate optimal designs for estimating interactions in multi-factorial settings. Thereby, optimality of candidate designs is shown using equivalence theorems (Pukelsheim [33]). Another practical important but less studied topic is the derivation of exact optimal designs. Most research considers approximate designs or exact designs for special contrast sets and selected numbers of arrays. Therefore, we focus on exact designs and present a method to construct A-optimal microarray designs for arbitrary numbers of arrays and arbitrary contrast sets. This method is applied to derive optimal designs for estimating treatment-control comparisons, all-tonext contrasts, Helmert contrasts and all pairwise comparisons. Furthermore, we derive robust designs, which achieve efficient results even if observations are missing. Missing values are a crucial topic in the context of microarray experiments, since they often occur due to scratches on the slide or other damaging. In applications recommendations for the choice of efficient experimental layouts can be derived from our constructed designs.
The KIT-NAIST (contrastive) English ASR system for IWSLT 2012

This paper describes the KIT-NAIST (Contrastive) English speech recognition system for the IWSLT 2012 Evaluation Campaign. In particular, we participated in the ASR track of the IWSLT TED task. The system was developed by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and Nara Institute of Science and Technology (NAIST) teams in collaboration within the interACT project. We employ single system decoding with fully continuous and semi-continuous models, as well as a three-stage, multipass system combination framework built with the Janus Recognition Toolkit. On the IWSLT 2010 test set our single system introduced in this work achieves a WER of 17.6%, and our final combination achieves a WER of 14.4%.
Changing disease incidence: the consulting room perspective.

‘Reliable information on deaths by cause is an essential input for planning, managing and evaluating the performance of the health sector in all countries. ’ With these words Murray and Lopez introduced their chapter on the causes of death in the book The Global Burden of Disease . 1 The statement is equally true when considering diseases that do not usually cause death. They went on to consider what was meant by the words ‘reliable’ and ‘cause’ and examined protocols for assigning cause, disease classification, age standardisation and other factors important to the recognition of difference, be that between countries and regions, groups of individuals within a country, or differences over time. Although the performance of the health sector was an important element of their deliberations, when evaluating change we must never lose sight of the persons who die or experience disease but do not consult. Changes in sickness certification for example have knock on effects on consulting patterns. The initial priority in any comparison is to establish the fact of change and this should precede efforts to interpret the reasons for change. Routine healthcare data are collected for a particular purpose and they are not always appropriate to describing change. The introduction of the Quality and Outcomes Framework in the British NHS has had fundamental effects on the ways doctors record information.2 Differences between the before and after situation do not necessarily indicate fundamental changes in the health problems of the subjects monitored or the way in which they have been managed: sometimes the main change is in the way the information is recorded. Mathematical techniques such as age standardisation and statistical estimation of confidence intervals enhance our ability to make comparisons but are only appropriate if monitored samples are truly representative of the population. When interventions are considered, …
Peripheral Tolerance Via the Anterior Chamber of the Eye: Role of B Cells in MHC Class I and II Antigen Presentation1

Ags introduced into the anterior chamber (AC) of the eye induce a form of peripheral immune tolerance termed AC-associated immune deviation (ACAID). ACAID mitigates ocular autoimmune diseases and promotes corneal allograft survival. Ags injected into the AC are processed by F4/80+ APCs, which migrate to the thymus and spleen. In the spleen, ocular APCs induce the development of Ag-specific B cells that act as ancillary APCs and are required for ACAID induction. In this study, we show that ocular-like APCs elicit the generation of Ag-specific splenic B cells that induce ACAID. However, direct cell contact between ocular-like APCs and splenic B cells is not necessary for the induction of ACAID B cells. Peripheral tolerance produced by ACAID requires the participation of ACAID B cells, which induce the generation of both CD4+ regulatory T cells (Tregs) and CD8+ Tregs. Using in vitro and in vivo models of ACAID, we demonstrate that ACAID B cells must express both MHC class I and II molecules for the generation of Tregs. These results suggest that peripheral tolerance induced through the eye requires Ag-presenting B cells that simultaneously present Ags on both MHC class I and II molecules.
Reelin Is Involved in Transforming Growth Factor-β1-Induced Cell Migration in Esophageal Carcinoma Cells

Reelin (RELN), which is a glycoprotein secreted by Cajal-Retzius cells of the developing cerebral cortex, plays an important role in neuronal migration, but its role in cell migration and cancer metastasis is largely unclear. Here, we showed that cell motility was significantly increased in KYSE-510 cells by TGF-β1 treatment. Moreover, TGF-β1 decreased RELN mRNA expression and overexpression of Reelin at least partly reversed TGF-β1-induced cell migration in KYSE-30 cells. Furthermore, this negative regulation of Reelin expression by TGF-β1 was through Snail, one transcription factor which was induced by TGF-β1 in KYSE-510 cells. RELN promoter activity was reduced in parallel with the induction of Snail after TGF-β1 treatment and Snail suppressed both RELN promoter activity and expression through binding to E-box sequences in the RELN promoter region in ESCC cells. Knockdown of RELN induced cell migration in KYSE-510 cells, together with the increase of mesenchymal markers expression. Taken together, Reelin is an essential negative regulator in the TGF-β1-induced cell migration process, and is suppressed by TGF-β pathway at the transcriptional level through Snail regulation. Therefore, the correlation of Reelin and TGF-β pathway was critical in cancer metastasis, and Reelin could be one potential anti-metastasis target in future clinical practice.
Psychometric Investigation of the Abbreviated Concussion Symptom Inventory in a Sample of U.S. Marines Returning from Combat

This study describes the psychometric investigation of an 11-item symptom checklist, the Abbreviated Concussion Symptom Inventory (ACSI). The ACSI is a dichotomously scored list of postconcussive symptoms associated with mild traumatic brain injury. The ACSI was administered to Marines (N = 1,435) within the 1st month of their return from combat deployments to Afghanistan. Psychometric analyses based upon nonparametric item response theory supported scoring the ACSI via simple summation of symptom endorsements; doing so produced a total score with good reliability (α = .802). Total scores were also found to significantly differentiate between different levels of head injury complexity during deployment, F(3, 1,431) = 100.75, p < . 001. The findings support the use of the ASCI in research settings requiring a psychometrically reliable measure of postconcussion symptoms.
Cardiovascular , Pulmonary , and Renal Pathology MT 1-MMP – Dependent Remodeling of Cardiac Extracellular Matrix Structure and Function Following Myocardial Infarction

The myocardial extracellular matrix (ECM), an interwoven meshwork of proteins, glycoproteins, proteoglycans, and glycosaminoglycans that is dominated by polymeric fibrils of type I collagen, serves as the mechanical scaffold on which myocytes are arrayed for coordinated and synergistic force transduction. Following ischemic injury, cardiac ECM remodeling is initiated via localized proteolysis, the bulk of which has been assigned to matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) family members. Nevertheless, the key effector(s) of myocardial type I collagenolysis both in vitro and in vivo have remained unidentified. In this study, using cardiac explants from mice deficient in each of the major type I collagenolytic MMPs, including MMP-13, MMP-8, MMP-2, MMP-9, or MT1-MMP, we identify the membrane-anchored MMP, MT1-MMP, as the dominant collagenase that is operative within myocardial tissues in vitro. Extending these observations to an in vivo setting, mice heterozygous for an MT1MMP–null allele display a distinct survival advantage and retain myocardial function relative to wildtype littermates in an experimental model of myocardial infarction, effects associated with preservation of the myocardial type I collagen network as a consequence of the decreased collagenolytic potential of cardiac fibroblasts. This study identifies MT1-MMP as a key MMP responsible for effecting postinfarction cardiac ECM remodeling and cardiac dysfunction. (Am J Pathol 2012, 180:1863–1878; DOI: 10.1016/j.ajpath.2012.01.022) The cardiac extracellular matrix (ECM) is an interwoven meshwork of proteins, glycoproteins, proteoglycans, and glycosaminoglycans that provide the structural scaffold on which myocytes, cardiac fibroblasts, and endothelial cells are arrayed to form functional heart tissue. Dominated by fibrils of triple helical type I collagen, the cardiac ECM serves to maintain myocyte geometrical integrity for synergistic force transduction while also serving as a reservoir of latent bioactive signaling molecules that regulate cardiac function. In the setting of myocardial infarction (MI), ischemic tissue injury generates profound changes in the architecture and composition of the cardiac ECM: hypoxic cell death of myocytes and oxidative damage following reperfusion induces an influx of inflammatory leukocytes that collaborate with stromal cells to degrade the native structural components of the ventricular wall, resulting in ventricular thinning and dilation. Following clearance of necrotic tissue, neomatrix is deposited, with the wound resolving as an inelastic scar. Loss of functional cardiac tissue manifests either acutely, if uncompensated, as cardiogenic shock or chronically as congestive heart failure, resulting in significant morbidity and mortality. As such, recent studies have focused on identifying the key effectors of post-MI cardiac ECM remodeling in an effort to develop therapeutic interventions that might better preserve tissue architecture and function.
Punishment: Effects of Shock Intensity on Response Suppression

Punishment ordinarily suppresses concurrently reinforced behavior. The amount of suppression is related to intensity of punishment by the exponential equation, RI = Rne−0.10I. This equation describes the behavior of both rats and pigeons under very different methods of shock administration. Its generality may, however, be limited by (1) order of shock presentation and (2) amount of exposure to punishment. Recovery characteristically occurs immediately following withdrawal of punishment and, in some cases, even when the contingency is still in effect (mild punishment). At extremely high intensities, however, when concomitant emotional reactions may have been induced, response suppression may be permanent.
Evaluating Cell Nuclei Segmentation for Use on Whole-Slide Images in Lung Cytology

This paper presents results from an evaluation of three previously presented methods for segmentation of cell nuclei in lung cytology samples scanned by whole-slide scanners. Whole-slide images from seven cases of end bronchial ultrasound-guided Tran bronchial needle aspiration samples were used for extracting a number of regions of interest, in which approximately 2700 cell nuclei were manually segmented to form the ground truth. The segmented cells included benign bronchial epithelium, lymphocytes, granulocytes, histiocytes and malignant epithelial cells. The best results were obtained with a method based upon adaptive thresholding and an added step of clustering for distinguishing between cytoplasm and cell nuclei. This method achieved a mean DICE-score of 0.81 and a sensitivity and specificity of 0.88 and 0.81 respectively. In addition, this method was by far the fastest method, with a mean processing time of 7.8 s per image (2 048 × 2 048 pixels per image). By further improvements, such as lowering the false positive rate and using parallel computing hardware, this method has the potential to form the first building block in a system for computerized screening of whole-slide images in lung cytology.