Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Faithful Spatio-Temporal disocclusion filling using local optimization

We present a novel method to fill disoccluded regions occurring in Depth Image Based Rendering (DIBR) in a faithful way. Given a video stream and a corresponding depth map, DIBR can render arbitrary new views of a scene. Areas that are not visible in the reference view need to be filled after warping. We present a novel framework for this task which can reconstruct the disoc-cluded regions by taking temporally neighboring frames into account. An efficient optimization scheme is employed to find faithful filling regions. This way, in contrast to common methods, we can fill disocclusions with their true color values, yielding high-quality view synthesis results.
Improving the Accuracy of an Adiabatic Quantum Computer

The purpose of the D-Wave adiabatic quantum computer is to find a set of qubit values that minimize its objective function. For various reasons, the set of qubit values returned by the D-Wave has errors. This paper presents a method of improving the results returned by the D-Wave. The method individually modifies the qubit values returned by the D-Wave to find a set of values which is a minimum of the objective function. That set however is not necessarily guaranteed to be a global minimum. The method is simple and easily incorporated into any algorithm that has direct access to the sets of values returned by the D-Wave. Examples are also presented that demonstrate the merit of using such a sample improvement method.
Carryover of cadmium from feed in growing pigs

Growing male pigs were exposed to cadmium (Cd) at levels around 1 and 10 mg kg–1 feed for up to 12 weeks, administered as CdCl2 or Cd-cysteine (CdCys). Pigs exposed to 10 mg kg–1 showed decreased growth during the last 3 weeks. Liver and kidney concentrations of Cd continuously increased over the entire 12-week exposure, exceeding the European Union limits of 1.0 mg kg–1 (kidney) and 0.5 mg kg–1 (liver) within 3 weeks at the feed level of 10 mg kg–1. A switch to clean feed after 3 weeks for 5 or 9 weeks resulted in steadily decreased levels in kidney and liver, which could be completely attributed to organ growth. At the lower feed level, the level in kidney exceeded the limit almost twofold after 12 weeks, but not after 3 weeks. Liver levels remained below the limit. Metallothionein (MT) levels in livers showed a steady decrease in both untreated and treated animals over time. In kidney such a decrease was only observed in control animals, whereas in the highest-dosed animals the MT concentrations steadily increased. The observed carryover of Cd from feed to liver and kidney was modelled by means of a simple transfer model relating levels in feed via MT levels to accumulation of Cd. Using this model, it was shown that the exposure period of growing pigs to feed containing the European Union limit of 0.5 mg kg–1 feed should be less than 12 weeks in order to prevent Cd levels in the kidneys to exceed the European Union limit.
Prediction of frictional heating and temperature distribution in selective ceramic-reinforced polymer composite

Machine elements such as bushes, gears, and rollers made of polymer and polymer matrix composites often fail by wear and/or contact fatigue. The wear resistance of the polymeric materials can be improved by embedding hard ceramic particles at the contact surface. During service, the temperature of contacting machine elements increases due to friction and hysteresis, which affects the mechanical properties of the materials. In this article, an attempt is made to predict the temperature rise due to friction under sliding condition using simplified numerical methods to enable suitable surface reinforcement strategies. The effect of area coverage and presence of particles at the surface and sub-surface regions in the silicon carbide-reinforced polyamide composite on the temperature distribution are reported. The results reveal that the presence of silicon carbide particles at the contact region decreases the surface temperature increase during sliding process. The reduction in surface temperature increases with the increase in percentage area coverage and presence of particles at the surface and sub-surface regions. By virtue of their superior thermal conductivity, ceramic particles decrease the thermal resistance locally and significantly decrease the heat buildup due to sliding.
A CONTROL STRATEGY USING A CPWL NOE STRUCTURE

Abstract In this paper we develop a nonlinear control strategy based on a Nonlinear Output Error (NOE) model structure that uses Canonical High Level Piecewise Linear (HL CPWL) functions to approximate the nonlinear system. This model structure allows the implementation of identification and control algorithms that allows to increase or decrease very easily the complexity of the model during the identification process. This property is very attractive because it allows to find the appropriate NOE model without overfitting. Using this CPWL NOE model structure, we define a simple local linear control scheme.
Cyclic Stress at mHz Frequencies Aligns Fibroblasts in Direction of Zero Strain

Recognition of external mechanical signals is vital for mammalian cells. Cyclic stretch, e.g. around blood vessels, is one such signal that induces cell reorientation from parallel to almost perpendicular to the direction of stretch. Here, we present quantitative analyses of both, cell and cytoskeletal reorientation of umbilical cord fibroblasts. Cyclic strain of preset amplitudes was applied at mHz frequencies. Elastomeric chambers were specifically designed and characterized to distinguish between zero strain and minimal stress directions and to allow accurate theoretical modeling. Reorientation was only induced when the applied stretch exceeded a specific amplitude, suggesting a non-linear response. However, on very soft substrates no mechanoresponse occurs even for high strain. For all stretch amplitudes, the angular distributions of reoriented cells are in very good agreement with a theory modeling stretched cells as active force dipoles. Cyclic stretch increases the number of stress fibers and the coupling to adhesions. We show that changes in cell shape follow cytoskeletal reorientation with a significant temporal delay. Our data identify the importance of environmental stiffness for cell reorientation, here in direction of zero strain. These in vitro experiments on cultured cells argue for the necessity of rather stiff environmental conditions to induce cellular reorientation in mammalian tissues.
Liouville bootstrap via harmonic analysis on a noncompact quantum group

The purpose of this short note is to announce results that amount to a verification of the bootstrap for Liouville theory in the generic case under certain assumptions concerning existence and properties of fusion transformations. Under these assumptions one may characterize the fusion and braiding coefficients as solutions of a system of functional equations that follows from the combination of consistency requirements and known results. This system of equations has a unique solution for irrational central charge c>25. The solution is constructed by solving the Clebsch-Gordan problem for a certain continuous series of quantum group representations and constructing the associated Racah-coefficients. This gives an explicit expression for the fusion coefficients. Moreover, the expressions can be continued into the strong coupling region 1
Finite element modeling of the human foot and footwear

A finite element (FE) model of the human foot and ankle was developed from 3D reconstruction of 2 mm coronal MR images from the right foot of a normal male subject using the segmentation software, Mimics. Solid models of 28 foot bones and encapsulated soft tissue structures models established in Solidworks software were imported into ABAQUS for creating the tetrahedral FE meshes. The plantar fascia and 72 ligaments were defined by connecting the corresponding attachment points on the bones using tension-only truss elements. Contact interactions among the major joints were prescribed to allow relative bone movements. A foot support was used to establish the frictional contact interaction between the foot-support interfaces. The contour of the arch-supporting foot orthoses was obtained from digitization of the subject’s foot via a 3D laser scanner. Algorithms were established in Matlab software to create surface models from the digitized foot surface. Solid model of the foot orthoses established in the Solidworks software was properly partitioned in ABAQUS for creating the hexahedral FE meshes. The encapsulated soft tissue and orthotic material were defined as hyperelastic while other tissues were idealized as homogeneous, isotropic and linearly elastic. The ground reaction and extrinsic muscles forces for simulating the stance phase of gait were applied at the inferior ground support and at their corresponding points of insertion by defining contraction forces via axial connector elements, respectively. The FE predictions are being validated by experimental measurements conducted on cadavers and on the same subject who volunteered for the MR scanning.
Kolmogorov and mathematical logic

There are human beings whose intellectual power exceeds that of ordinary men. In my life, in my personal experience, there were three such men, and one of them was Andrei Nikolaevich Kolmogorov. I was lucky enough to be his immediate pupil. He invited me to be his pupil at the third year of my being student at the Moscow University. This talk is my tribute, my homage to my great teacher. Andrei Nikolaevich Kolmogorov was born on April 25, 1903. He graduated from Moscow University in 1925, finished his post-graduate education at the same University in 1929, and since then without any interruption worked at Moscow University till his death on October 20, 1987, at the age 84½. Kolmogorov was not only one of the greatest mathematicians of the twentieth century. By the width of his scientific interests and results he reminds one of the titans of the Renaissance. Indeed, he made prominent contributions to various fields from the theory of shooting to the theory of versification, from hydrodynamics to set theory. In this talk I should like to expound his contributions to mathematical logic. Here the term “mathematical logic” is understood in a broad sense. In this sense it, like Gallia in Caesarian times, is divided into three parts: (1) mathematical logic in the strict sense, i.e. the theory of formalized languages including deduction theory, (2) the foundations of mathematics, and (3) the theory of algorithms.
Effects of Passive Porous Walls on the First Mode of Hypersonic Boundary Layers Over a Sharp Cone

Abstract : A theoretical linear stability analysis is used to consider the effect of a porous wall on the first mode of a hypersonic boundary layer on a sharp slender cone. The effects of curvature and of the attached shock are included for axisymmetric and nonaxisymmetric disturbances. The flow in the hypersonic boundary layer is coupled to the flow in the porous layer. The linear results for neutral stability and spatial stability are presented for physical parameters and porous wall models, chosen to correspond to relevant experiments. The effects of varying the porous wall parameters are investigated. A weakly nonlinear stability analysis is carried out allowing an equation for the amplitude of disturbances to be derived. The coefficients of the terms in the amplitude equation are evaluated for axisymmetric and non-axisymmetric disturbances. The stabilizing or destabilizing effect of nonlinearity is found to depend on the cone radius. The presence of porous walls significantly influences the effect of nonlinearity.
Role of the hippocampus in remembering the past and imagining the future

It has been proposed that a core network of brain regions, including the hippocampus, supports both past remembering and future imagining. We investigated the importance of the hippocampus for these functions. Five patients with bilateral hippocampal damage and one patient with large medial temporal lobe lesions were tested for their ability to recount autobiographical episodes from the remote past, the recent past, and to imagine plausible episodes in the near future. The patients with hippocampal damage had intact remote autobiographical memory, modestly impaired recent memory, and an intact ability to imagine the future. The patient with large medial temporal lobe lesions had intact remote memory, markedly impaired recent memory, and also had an intact ability to imagine the future. The findings suggest that the capacity for imagining the future, like the capacity for remembering the remote past, is independent of the hippocampus.
Asymptotic spectral theory for nonlinear time series

We consider asymptotic problems in spectral analysis of stationary causal processes. Limiting distributions of periodograms and smoothed periodogram spectral density estimates are obtained and applications to the spectral domain bootstrap are given. Instead of the commonly used strong mixing conditions, in our asymptotic spectral theory we impose conditions only involving (conditional) moments, which are easily verifiable for a variety of nonlinear time series.
Assessing United States Patient and Dermatologist Experiences with Severe Chronic Hand Eczema.

OBJECTIVE Patients with severe chronic hand eczema often have persistent symptoms that interfere with daily activities, social functioning, and employment. Many patients are refractory to topical corticosteroids. This survey-based study was performed to characterize treatment experiences, impact on productivity, and quality of life of patients with severe chronic hand eczema; understand dermatologists' severe chronic hand eczema treatment patterns. DESIGN A web-based survey in the United States queried pre-identified patients with severe chronic hand eczema regarding symptoms, treatment history, quality of life, work productivity, treatment satisfaction, and healthcare utilization. In a separate survey, dermatologists were asked about treatment patterns and satisfaction with currently available therapies. RESULTS The most commonly reported symptoms currently experienced by patients (n=163) were dryness/flaking (81%), itchiness (75%), and cracking/tearing of the skin (71%). Over the last three months, 84 percent of patients with severe chronic hand eczema self-reported using topical steroids, and 30 percent used systemic corticosteroids or retinoids. Approximately 30 percent reported impairment while working and productivity loss. Patient quality of life was negatively impacted. Dermatologists (n=125) reported most often treating severe chronic hand eczema with topical corticosteroids (99%), followed by topical immunomodulators (71%) and systemic treatments (70%). Only two percent were very satisfied with currently available products. CONCLUSION Patients with severe chronic hand eczema experience symptoms that negatively impact work productivity and quality of life. Few dermatologists are very satisfied with currently available severe chronic hand eczema treatment options.
Regulation of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis by Natural Killer (NK) Cells

In this report, we establish a regulatory role of natural killer (NK) cells in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), a prototype T helper cell type 1 (Th1)-mediated disease. Active sensitization of C57BL/6 (B6) mice with the myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (MOG)35-55 peptide induces a mild form of monophasic EAE. When mice were deprived of NK cells by antibody treatment before immunization, they developed a more serious form of EAE associated with relapse. Aggravation of EAE by NK cell deletion was also seen in β2-microglobulin−/− (β2m−/−) mice, indicating that NK cells can play a regulatory role in a manner independent of CD8+ T cells or NK1.1+ T cells (NK–T cells). The disease enhancement was associated with augmentation of T cell proliferation and production of Th1 cytokines in response to MOG35-55. EAE passively induced by the MOG35-55-specific T cell line was also enhanced by NK cell deletion in B6, β2m−/−, and recombination activation gene 2 (RAG-2)−/− mice, indicating that the regulation by NK cells can be independent of T, B, or NK–T cells. We further showed that NK cells inhibit T cell proliferation triggered by antigen or cytokine stimulation. Taken together, we conclude that NK cells are an important regulator for EAE in both induction and effector phases.
Isolation of hepatoblasts based on the expression of Dlk/Pref-1

Hepatoblasts are common progenitors for hepatocytes and biliary epithelial cells, although their nature remains largely unknown. In order to isolate and to characterize hepatoblasts, we searched for cell surface antigens expressed in mouse fetal hepatic cells by the signal sequence trap method and found that Dlk, also known as Pref-1, was strongly expressed in fetal liver. Immunohistochemical as well as northern analysis indicated that Dlk was highly expressed in the E10.5 liver bud. The strong expression continued until the E16.5 stage and was significantly downregulated thereafter. Using a monoclonal antibody against Dlk, we isolated Dlk+ cells either by a fluorescence-activated cell sorter or by an automatic magnetic cell sorter. Dlk+ cells isolated from fetal livers expressed albumin and formed colonies when cultured at low density with HGF and EGF for 5 days. Over 60% of colonies derived from E14.5 Dlk+ cells contained both albumin+ and cytokeratin 19+ cells, indicating that a majority of colony-forming Dlk+ cells are able to differentiate into both hepatocyte and biliary epithelial cell lineages. In addition, numerous microvilli were observed by electronmicroscopic analysis in most of those cultured cells, also indicating differentiation of Dlk+ cells under this condition. Furthermore, 7% of the colony-forming Dlk+ cells were not only bipotential but also highly proliferative, forming a large colony containing more than 100 cells during 5 days of culture. By transplantation of Dlk+ cells into the spleen, donor-derived hepatocytes were found in the recipient liver, indicating that Dlk+ cells differentiated into hepatocytes in vivo. These results indicate that Dlk+ cells are hepatoblasts and that Dlk is a useful marker to enrich highly proliferative hepatoblasts from fetal liver.
Estimating the probability of a rare event over a finite time horizon

We study an approximation for the zero-variance change of measure to estimate the probability of a rare event in a continuous-time Markov chain. The rare event occurs when the chain reaches a given set of states before some fixed time limit. The jump rates of the chain are expressed as functions of a rarity parameter in a way that the probability of the rare event goes to zero when the rarity parameter goes to zero, and the behavior of our estimators is studied in this asymptotic regime. After giving a general expression for the zero-variance change of measure in this situation, we develop an approximation of it via a power series and show that this approximation provides a bounded relative error when the rarity parameter goes to zero. We illustrate the performance of our approximation on small numerical examples of highly reliable Markovian systems. We compare it to a previously proposed heuristic that combines forcing with balanced failure biaising. We also exhibit the exact zero-variance change of measure for these examples and compare it with these two approximations.
Language activation in monozygotic twins discordant for schizophrenia

Background In previous functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies, participants with schizophrenia showed decreased language lateralisation, resulting from increased activation of the right hemisphere compared with controls. Aim To determine whether decreased lateralisation and increased right cerebral language activation constitute genetic predispositions for schizophrenia. Method Language activation was measured using fMRI in 12 right-handed monozygotic twin pairs discordant for schizophrenia and 12 healthy right-handed monozygotic twin pairs who were matched for gender, age and education. Results Language lateralisation was decreased in discordant twin pairs compared with the healthy twin pairs. The groups did not differ in activation of the language-related areas of the left hemisphere, but language-related activation in the right hemisphere was significantly higher in the discordant twin pairs than in the healthy pairs. Within the discordant twin pairs, language lateralisation was not significantly different between patients with schizophrenia and their co-twins. Conclusions Decreased language lateralisation may constitute a genetic predisposition for schizophrenia.
The Complexity of Boolean Surjective General-Valued CSPs

Valued constraint satisfaction problems (VCSPs) are discrete optimisation problems with a (Q ∪ {∞ })-valued objective function given as a sum of fixed-arity functions. In Boolean surjective VCSPs, variables take on labels from D = {0,1}, and an optimal assignment is required to use both labels from D. Examples include the classical global Min-Cut problem in graphs and the Minimum Distance problem studied in coding theory. We establish a dichotomy theorem and thus give a complete complexity classification of Boolean surjective VCSPs with respect to exact solvability. Our work generalises the dichotomy for {0, ∞}-valued constraint languages (corresponding to surjective decision CSPs) obtained by Creignou and Hébrard. For the maximisation problem of Q≥0-valued surjective VCSPs, we also establish a dichotomy theorem with respect to approximability. Unlike in the case of Boolean surjective (decision) CSPs, there appears a novel tractable class of languages that is trivial in the non-surjective setting. This newly discovered tractable class has an interesting mathematical structure related to downsets and upsets. Our main contribution is identifying this class and proving that it lies on the borderline of tractability. A crucial part of our proof is a polynomial-time algorithm for enumerating all near-optimal solutions to a generalised Min-Cut problem, which might be of independent interest.