Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Low-dimensional linear programming with violations

Megiddo (1984) and Dyer (1984) showed that linear programming in 2 and 3 dimensions (and subsequently, any constant number of dimensions) can be solved in linear time. In this paper, we consider linear programming with at most k violations: finding a point inside all but at most k of n given halfspaces. We give a simple algorithm in 2-d that runs in O((n + k/sup 2/) log n) expected time; this is faster than earlier algorithms by Everett, Robert, and van Kreveld (1993) and Matousek (1994) and is probably near-optimal for all k /spl Lt/ n/2. A (theoretical) extension of our algorithm in 3-d runs in near O(n + k/sup 11/4/n/sup 1/4/) expected time. Interestingly; the idea is based on concave-chain decompositions (or covers) of the (/spl les/ k)-level, previously used in proving combinatorial k -level bounds. Applications in the plane include improved algorithms for finding a line that misclassifies the fewest among a set of bichromatic points, and finding the smallest circle enclosing all but k points. We also discuss related problems of finding local minima in levels.
Predicting the Risk for Hospital‐Acquired Pressure Ulcers in Critical Care Patients

Background Assessments of risk for pressure ulcers in critical care patients may not include important predictors. Objective To construct risk‐prediction models of hospital‐acquired pressure ulcers in intensive care patients and compare the models’ predictive validities with validity of the Braden Scale. Methods Data were collected retrospectively on patients admitted to intensive care from October 2011 through October 2013. Logistic regression and decision trees were used to construct the risk‐prediction models. Predictive validity was measured by using sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and area under the curve. Results With logistic regression analysis, 6 factors were significant independent predictors. With the decision tree, 4 types of high‐risk populations were identified. Predictive validity of Braden Scale scores was lower than the validities of the logistic regression and the decision tree models. Conclusion Risk for hospital‐acquired pressure ulcers is overpredicted with the Braden Scale, with low specificity and low positive predictive value.
Addressing the needs of colorectal cancer survivors: current strategies and future directions

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the three topmost common cancers in men and the second most common cancer in women worldwide. With current advances in the medical and surgical treatment of CRC, care has slowly transformed to curative treatment. With these advances, CRC survivors are increasing in numbers and these patients have a unique range of medical, physical and psychological needs that require regular follow-up. In 2006, the Institute of Medicine recommended that cancer survivors who are completing primary treatment receive a survivorship care plan. There are many different programs of different complexity that are implemented for CRC survivors. This review outlines the needs of CRC survivors, the current surveillance techniques used in the continuing care of patients with CRC after curative treatment and the evidence behind these strategies.
Graphical Displays: Implications for Divided Attention, Focused Attention, and Problem Solving

When completing tasks in complex, dynamic domains observers must consider the relationships among many variables (e.g., integrated tasks) as well as the values of individual variables (e.g., focused tasks). A critical issue in display design is whether or not a single display format can achieve the dual design goals of supporting performance at both types of tasks. We consider this issue from a variety of perspectives. One relevant perspective is the basic research on attention and object perception, which concentrates on the interaction between visual features and processing capabilities. The principles of configurality are discussed, with the conclusion that they support the possibility of achieving the dual design goals. These considerations are necessary but not sufficient for effective display design. Graphic displays map information from a domain into visual features; the tasks to be completed are defined in terms of the domain, not in terms of the visual features alone. The implications of this subtle but extremely important difference are discussed. The laboratory research investigating alternative display formats is reviewed. Much like the attention literature, the results do not rule out the possibility that the dual design goals can be achieved.
Expression of spoIIIJ in the Prespore Is Sufficient for Activation of σG and for Sporulation in Bacillus subtilis

ABSTRACT During sporulation in Bacillus subtilis, the prespore-specific developmental program is initiated soon after asymmetric division of the sporangium by the compartment-specific activation of RNA polymerase sigma factor σF. σF directs transcription of spoIIIG, encoding the late forespore-specific regulator σG. Following synthesis, σG is initially kept in an inactive form, presumably because it is bound to the SpoIIAB anti-sigma factor. Activation of σG occurs only after the complete engulfment of the prespore by the mother cell. Mutations in spoIIIJ arrest sporulation soon after conclusion of the engulfment process and prevent activation of σG. Here we show that σG accumulates but is mostly inactive in a spoIIIJ mutant. We also show that expression of the spoIIIGE155K allele, encoding a form of σG that is not efficiently bound by SpoIIAB in vitro, restores σG-directed gene expression to a spoIIIJ mutant. Expression of spoIIIJ occurs during vegetative growth. However, we show that expression of spoIIIJ in the prespore is sufficient for σG activation and for sporulation. Mutations in the mother cell-specific spoIIIA locus are known to arrest sporulation just after completion of the engulfment process. Previous work has also shown that σG accumulates in an inactive form in spoIIIA mutants and that the need for spoIIIA expression for σG activation can be circumvented by the spoIIIGE155K allele. However, in contrast to the case for spoIIIJ, we show that expression of spoIIIA in the prespore does not support efficient sporulation. The results suggest that the activation of σG at the end of the engulfment process involves the action of spoIIIA from the mother cell and of spoIIIJ from the prespore.
Environmental Considerations in Vessel Scheduling for Sustainable Maritime Operations: A Decision Support Approach

Over 70% of all transportation takes place by ship, demonstrating the vital role the maritime sector plays in the expansion of the world economy. However, worries about the industry's environmental impact have been raised due to its significant contribution to environmental degradation and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The necessity of environmentally friendly vessel scheduling procedures in the maritime industry is covered in this study. Few research have examined the environmental effects of vessel scheduling in liner shipping, despite the fact that it has drawn scholarly attention. The significance of green or environmentally responsible boat scheduling techniques in lowering greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and enhancing environmental performance is emphasized by this study. It emphasizes how speed of a vessel directlyaffects emissions, highlighting the necessity for liner shipping companies to slow down in order to lessen greenhouse gas emissions. Planning sustainable and ecologically friendly routes while retaining efficiency is a challenge for shipping companies, though. In order to tackle these obstacles, decision support systems (DSSs) are suggested as useful instruments that offer data and direction for making knowledgeable and ecologically conscious scheduling choices. Shipowners can effectively manage the environmental impact and promote sustainability of their vessel scheduling while navigating the complexities of the industry by incorporating DSSs into their operations. The research's conclusions benefit the UN.
Online Speech/Music Segmentation Based on the Variance Mean of Filter Bank Energy

This paper presents a novel feature for online speech/music segmentation based on the variance mean of filter bank energy (VMFBE). The idea that encouraged the feature's construction is energy variation in a narrow frequency sub-band. The energy varies more rapidly, and to a greater extent for speech than for music. Therefore, an energy variance in such a sub-band is greater for speech than for music. The radio broadcast database and the BNSI broadcast news database were used for feature discrimination and segmentation ability evaluation. The calculation procedure of the VMFBE feature has 4 out of 6 steps in common with the MFCC feature calculation procedure. Therefore, it is a very convenient speech/music discriminator for use in real-time automatic speech recognition systems based on MFCC features, because valuable processing time can be saved, and computation load is only slightly increased. Analysis of the feature's speech/music discriminative ability shows an average error rate below 10% for radio broadcast material and it outperforms other features used for comparison, by more than 8%. The proposed feature as a stand-alone speech/music discriminator in a segmentation system achieves an overall accuracy of over 94% on radio broadcast material.
Hypertension alters phosphorylation of VASP in brain endothelial cells

Hypertension impairs cerebral vascular function. Vasodilator-stimulated phosphoprotein (VASP) mediates active reorganization of the cytoskeleton via membrane ruffling, aggregation and tethering of actin filaments. VASP regulation of endothelial barrier function has been demonstrated by studies using VASP−/− animals under conditions associated with tissue hypoxia. We hypothesize that hypertension regulates VASP expression and/or phosphorylation in endothelial cells, thereby contributing to dysfunction in the cerebral vasculature. Because exercise has direct and indirect salutary effects on vascular systems that have been damaged by hypertension, we also investigated the effect of exercise on maintenance of VASP expression and/or phosphorylation. We used immunohistochemistry, Western blotting and immunocytochemistry to examine the effect of hypertension on VASP expression and phosphorylation in brain endothelial cells in normotensive [Wistar–Kyoto (WKY)] and spontaneously hypertensive (SH) rats under normal and exercise conditions. In addition, we analyzed VASP regulation in normoxia- and hypoxia-induced endothelial cells. Brain endothelial cells exhibited significantly lower VASP immunoreactivity and phosphorylation at the Ser157 residue in SHR versus WKY rats. Exercise reversed hypertension-induced alterations in VASP phosphorylation. Western blotting and immunocytochemistry indicated reduction in VASP phosphorylation in hypoxic versus normoxic endothelial cells. These results suggest that diminished VASP expression and/or Ser157 phosphorylation mediates endothelial changes associated with hypertension and exercise may normalize these changes, at least in part, by restoring VASP phosphorylation.
Faster Image Deblurring for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

This work is devoted to the development of a novel deep learning encoder-decoder algorithm for real-time noise and blur elimination in video frames, received from UAV. This work improves on existing algorithms by providing a more flexible blind deblurring solution than existing kernel-based methods. The proposed method can be applied to both improve the drone operator's capabilities and to improve the performance of autonomous image processing tasks, such as object identification and visual navigation systems. Different types of blur as well as possible types of noise are presented. A brief overview of existing methods is provided. The problem of frame alignment due to the object's movement and associated noise is considered. Existing deblurring and image restoration methods are reviewed, including state-of-the-art. Their limitations are highlighted. To solve the limitations a method based on a fully convolutional encoder-decoder network with residual connections is presented. Dataset generation and training procedures are discussed. The approach is then compared to existing state-of-the-art deep learning methods. The proposed method enables up to 9 times faster blind image restoration with comparable quality in comparison to existing state-of-the-art image restoration methods.
Overexpression of PY1289-HER3 in sporadic pulmonary carcinoid from patients bearing MEN1 gene variants

The present study aimed to investigate the expression of human epidermal growth factor receptors (HERs) (HER1/HER2/HER3/HER4) and their phosphorylated forms (p-HER1/p-HER2/p-HER3/p-HER4) in pulmonary carcinoids (PCs). HER and p-HER protein expression was assessed by immunohistochemistry on tissue microarrays in 37 specimens of sporadic PCs, 29 typical carcinoids (TCs) and 8 atypical carcinoids (ACs). When compared with the ACs, the TCs did not exhibit any differences in terms of HER/p-HER expression. The tumors of this study have previously been characterized for the expression of menin and the mutational status of menin 1 (MEN1), a gene strongly implicated in the pathogenesis of PCs. In the present study, it was found that the cytoplasmic (‘disarrayed’), but not nuclear (‘arrayed’) expression of menin was positively correlated with HER3 (P=0.004), HER4 (P=0.015), p-HER1 (P=0.005), p-HER3 (P<0.001), and p-HER4 (P=0.001) expression. Moreover, HER3 and p-HER3 were found to be significantly more expressed in PCs with MEN1 variants, than in tumors with MEN1 wild-type (P=0.000 and P=0.025, respectively). These findings suggest the potential clinical use of HER inhibitors in the treatment of patients with PCs, particularly for individuals with p-HER3-positive PCs harboring MEN1 gene variants.
FLUVIAL PROCESSES IN ATTACHMENT BARS IN THE UPPER PARANA RIVER, BRAZIL

Bars are semi-submerged fluvial forms associated with the availability of sediments and a temporal dynamic, whose dimensions are controlled by the flow and depth of the channel. Attachment bars are very common in large anabranching river systems and play an important role in island formation and ecology. The Upper Parana River exhibits an anabranching pattern characterized by channels of different sizes, separated by islands and bars. The objective of this work is to present the processes involved in the formation and development of attachment bars in Santa Rosa Island, situated in Porto Rico, State of Parana, Southern Brazil. Acquisition campaigns were performed to obtain data on channel hydraulics (ADCP equipment), morphometry (Echo-sound profiles) and textural parameters (grain-size analyses) at high and medium water levels. Santa Rosa Island divides the flow into two channels of distinct hydraulic and sedimentary dynamics. Flow diversion produces a decrease in flow velocity and consequent sediment deposition near the upstream end of Santa Rosa Island. The formation and maintenance of attachment bars in Santa Rosa Island is related to flow competence reduction and the occurrence of divergent currents. Vegetation cover and flow regime control its permanence.
Export Dynamics and Sales at Home

How do rms' sales interact across markets? Are foreign and domestic sales complements or substitutes? Using a large French rm-level database that combine balance-sheet and product-destination-speci c export information over the period 1995-2001, we study the interconnections between exports and domestic sales. We identify exogenous shocks that a ect rm demand on foreign markets to instrument yearly variations in exports. Our results show that exogenous variations in foreign sales are positively associated with domestic sales, even after controlling for changes in domestic demand. A 10% exogenous increase in exports generates a 1.5 to 3% increase in domestic sales in the short-term. This result is robust to various esti-mation techniques, instruments, controls, and sub-samples. It is also supported by the natural experiment of the Asian crisis in the late 1990's. We discuss various channels that may explain this complementarity.
Identification of kaempferol‐regulated proteins in rat calvarial osteoblasts during mineralization by proteomics

Kaempferol, a flavonoid, promotes osteoblast mineralization in vitro and bone formation in vivo; however, its mechanism of action is yet unknown. We adopted proteomic approach to identify the differential effect of kaempferol on rat primary calvarial osteoblasts during mineralization. The primary rat calvarial osteoblasts were treated with kaempferol (5.0 μM) for 9 days under mineralizing condition that resulted in significant increase in alkaline phosphatase activity and mineralization of the cells. Further, 2‐D analysis of the kaempferol‐treated osteoblast lysates revealed 18 differentially expressed proteins (nine upregulated and nine downregulated) on the basis of >/<2.0‐fold as cut‐off (p<0.01) that were then identified by MALDI‐TOF MS. These included cytoskeletal proteins, intracellular signaling protein, chaperone, extracellular matrix protein, and proteins involved in glycolysis and cell–matrix interactions. Proteomics data were confirmed by Western blotting and quantitative real‐time PCR by randomly selecting two upregulated and two downregulated proteins. Western blot analysis confirmed upregulation of HSP‐70 and cytokeratin‐14 levels, and downregulation of aldose reductase and caldesmon expression. We further demonstrated that kaempferol treatment inhibits aldose reductase activity in osteoblasts indicating an altered cellular metabolism by decelerating polyol pathway that was associated with the kaempferol‐induced osteoblast mineralization. In conclusion, this is a first comprehensive study on the differential regulation of proteins by kaempferol in primary osteoblast, which would further help to elucidate the role of the identified proteins in the process of osteoblast mineralization.
Unpicking the signal thread of the sector web spider Zygiella x-notata

Remote sensing allows an animal to extend its morphology with appropriate conductive materials and sensors providing environmental feedback from spatially removed locations. For example, the sector web spider Zygiella x-notata uses a specialized thread as both a structural bridge and signal transmitter to monitor web vibrations from its retreat at the web perimeter. To unravel this model multifunctional system, we investigated Zygiella's signal thread structure with a range of techniques, including tensile testing, laser vibrometry, electron microscopy and behavioural analysis. We found that signal threads varied significantly in the number of filaments; a result of the spider adding a lifeline each time it runs along the bridge. Our mechanical property analysis suggests that while the structure varies, its normalized load does not. We propose that the signal thread represents a complex and fully integrated multifunctional structure where filaments can be added, thus increasing absolute load-bearing capacity while maintaining signal fidelity. We conclude that such structures may serve as inspiration for remote sensing design strategies.
Getting the Phenotypes Right: An Essential Ingredient for Understanding Aetiological Mechanisms Underlying Persistent Violence and Developing Effective Treatments

In order to reduce societal levels of violence, it is essential to advance understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms involved in initiating and maintaining individual patterns of physical aggression. New technologies such as Magnetic Resonance Imagining and analyses of DNA provide tools for identifying these mechanisms. The reliability and validity of the results of studies using these tools depend not only on aspects of the technology, but also on the methodological rigour with which the studies are conducted, particularly with respect to characterizing the phenotype. The present article discusses five challenges confronting scientists who aim to advance understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms associated with persistent violence. These challenges are: (1) to develop evidence-based hypotheses and to design studies that test alternate hypotheses; (2) to recruit samples that are homogeneous with respect to variables that may be linked to neurobiological mechanisms underpinning violent behaviour; (3) to use reliable and valid measures in order to fully characterize participants so that the external validity of the results is evident; (4) to restrict the range of age of participants so as not to confuse developmental change with group differences; and (5) to take account of sex. Our goal is to contribute to elevating methodological standards in this new field of research and to thereby improve the validity of results and move closer to finding effective ways to reduce violence.
Identification and validation of rice reference proteins for western blotting

Studies of rice protein expression have increased considerably with the development of rice functional genomics. In order to obtain reliable expression results in western blotting, information on appropriate reference proteins is necessary for data normalization. To date, no published study has identified and systematically validated reference proteins suitable for the investigation of rice protein expression. In this study, nine candidate proteins were selected and their specific antibodies were obtained through immunization of rabbits with either recombinant proteins expressed in Escherichia coli or synthesized peptides. Western blotting was carried out to detect the expression of target proteins in a set of 10 rice samples representing different rice tissues/organs at different developmental stages. The expression stability of the proteins was analysed using geNorm and Microcal Origin 6.0 software. The results indicated that heat shock protein (HSP) and elongation factor 1-α (eEF-1α) were the most constantly expressed among all rice proteins tested throughout all developmental stages, while the proteins encoded by conventional internal reference genes fluctuated in amount. Comparison among the profiling of translation and transcription [expressed sequence tags (EST) and massively parallel signature sequencing (MPSS)] revealed that a correlation existed. Based on the standard curves derived from the antigen–antibody reaction, the concentrations of HSP and eEF-1α proteins in rice leaves were ∼0.12%. Under the present experimental conditions, the lower limits of detection for HSP and eEF-1α proteins in rice were 0.24 ng and 0.06 ng, respectively. In conclusion, the reference proteins selected in this study, and the corresponding antibodies, can be used in qualitative and quantitative analysis of rice proteins.