Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Automatic Calibration of a Multiple-Projector Spherical Fish Tank VR Display

We describe a novel automatic calibration method using a single camera for a multiple-projector spherical Fish Tank Virtual Reality (FTVR) display. Modeling the projector as an inverse camera, we estimate the intrinsic and extrinsic projector parameters automatically using a set of projected images on the spherical screen. A calibrated camera is placed beneath to observe partially visible projected patterns. Using the correspondence between the observed pattern and the projected pattern, we reconstruct the shape of the spherical display and finally recover the 3D position of each projected pixel on the display. Additionally we present a practical calibration evaluation method that estimates on-surface accuracy using the single camera. We use point mismatch as a metric to describe misalignment and line mismatch to describe distortion. We demonstrate our automatic approach can achieve an on-surface point mismatch less than 1mm and line mismatch less than 1 on a 30cm diameter spherical screen. Taken together, our calibration approach and evaluation method are automatic and accurate for a desktop spherical FTVR and can be applied to other multiple-projector displays with curved screens.
Economy or Justice? How Urban Actors Respond to Diversity

The diversification of population, demands for recognition, and the spread of diversity policies present new challenges to European cities. Do urban actors respond to this development in different ways across cities? Can we distinguish a logic determined by economic considerations or rather a justice-oriented logic? This article presents evidence from 20 German cities based on an original survey of important urban actors. This design reflects current realities of urban governance. Results indicate that, across Germany’s biggest cities, there is a normative consensus over the benefits of diversity. However, other positions are controversial and views seem partly incoherent. Cities neither clearly position themselves as pro- or antidiversity cities nor do most of them adopt clear market-oriented or justice-oriented approaches. We conclude that, in a relatively new field, positions are still uncrystallized, and hybrid combinations of perspectives may remain typical in societies with strong social-welfare traditions.
Price Dispersion, Private Uncertainty, And Endogenous Nominal Rigidities

This article shows that when agents learn from prices, large private uncertainty may result from a small amount of heterogeneity. As in a Phelps–Lucas island model, final producers look at the prices of their local inputs to infer aggregate conditions. However, market linkages between islands make the informativeness of local prices endogenous to general equilibrium relations. In this context, I show that a vanishingly small heterogeneity in local conditions is enough to generate an equilibrium in which prices are rigid to aggregate shocks and transmit only partial information. I use this insight as a microfoundation for price rigidity in an otherwise frictionless monetary model and show that even a tiny amount of dispersion in fundamentals can lead to large non-neutrality of money.
Spontaneous GABAergic postsynaptic currents in Cajal–Retzius cells in neonatal rat cerebral cortex

Cajal–Retzius cells are among the first neurons appearing during corticogenesis, and play an important role in the establishment of cortical lamination. The variety of neurotransmitter receptors recently found on these cells imply that they are integrated in the neonatal cortical network. To investigate the presence and properties of spontaneous synaptic activity we performed whole‐cell patch‐clamp recordings from visually identified and biocytin‐labelled Cajal–Retzius cells in a tangential slice preparation of neonatal rat cerebral cortex (postnatal days P0–P5). Spontaneous postsynaptic currents (sPSCs) could be observed in about 23% of the cells using a pipette solution containing 136 mm Cl–. The sPSCs occurred at a low frequency (0.07 ± 0.07 Hz, n = 42 cells), had an average amplitude of 24.3 ± 12.4 pA (n = 415 events) and could not be divided in subpopulations according to their amplitude distribution or kinetic properties. The sPSCs were blocked by the GABAA antagonist bicuculline (100 µm), while the glutamatergic antagonists (±)‐2‐amino‐5‐phosphonopentatonic acid (APV, 30 µm) and 6‐cyano‐7‐nitroquinoxaline‐2,3‐dione (CNQX, 10 µm), as well as tetrodotoxin (1–2 µm), a blocker of voltage‐gated sodium‐currents, had no significant effect on sPSCs. The incidence rate of sPSCs declined within the age of the rats and no sPSCs could be observed after P4. These results suggest that Cajal–Retzius cells transiently receive action potential‐independent and GABAA receptor‐mediated spontaneous synaptic input, which may contribute to the refinement of cortical circuits.
Neuromuscular and Cardiovascular Adaptations During Concurrent Strength and Endurance Training in Untrained Men

Abstract This study examined the effects of concurrent strength and endurance training on neuromuscular and endurance characteristics compared to strength or endurance training alone. Previously untrained men were divided into strength (S: n=16), endurance (E: n=11) or concurrent strength and endurance (SE: n=11) training groups. S and E trained 2 times and SE 2 + 2 times a week for strength and endurance during the 21-week period. Maximal unilateral isometric and bilateral concentric forces of leg muscles increased similarly in S and SE by 20–28% (p<0.01) and improvements in isometric forces were accompanied by increases (p<0.05) of maximal muscle activation. Rate of force development of isometric action (p<0.05) improved only in S. The increase in muscle cross-sectional area of the quadriceps femoris in SE (11%, p<0.001) were greater than in S (6%, p<0.001) or in E (2%, p<0.05). SE and E increased maximal cycling power (SE: 17% and E: 11%, p<0.001) and VO2MAX (SE: 17%, p<0.001 and E: 5%, ns.). These results suggest that the present moderate volume 21-week concurrent SE training in previously untrained men optimizes the magnitude of muscle hypertrophy, maximal strength and endurance development, but interferes explosive strength development, compared with strength or endurance training alone.
Two new tricycloalternarene esters from an alga-epiphytic isolate of Alternaria alternata

Abstract Two new tricycloalternarene-type meroterpenes, 17-O-methyltricycloalternarene D (1) and methyl nortricycloalternarate (4), and two known congeners, TCA D (2) and TCA 1b (3), were isolated from the culture of a marine red alga-epiphytic fungal strain (k21-1) of Alternaria alternata. The planar structures and relative configurations of these two new compounds were unequivocally identified by a combination of 1D/2D NMR, UV, IR, and mass spectra and by comparison with literature data, and the absolute configurations were assigned by analysis of ECD spectra. Compounds 1–4 were evaluated for growth inhibition of four marine plankton species, but they appeared weak or moderate to inhibit them.
Pharmacists' Perceptions of the Influence of Interactions with the Pharmaceutical Industry on Clinical Decision-Making.

BACKGROUND There is a paucity of literature examining the perceptions of Canadian pharmacists toward drug promotion by the pharmaceutical industry and pharmacist-industry interactions. OBJECTIVES To determine whether hospital pharmacists perceive their interactions with the pharmaceutical industry as influencing their clinical decision-making or that of their colleagues and whether hospital pharmacists perceive that interactions with the pharmaceutical industry create a conflict of interest. METHODS A cross-sectional survey of the complete sample of hospital pharmacists practising in 3 large health authorities in a single Canadian province was conducted from February to April 2010. RESULTS A total of 224 responses were received from the approximately 480 pharmacists in the target health authorities (response rate approximately 47%). Fifty-eight percent of respondents (127/218) did not believe that information received at industry-sponsored events influenced their clinical decision-making. Most (142/163 [87%]) disagreed that small gifts influenced their clinical decision-making, whereas responses were divided for large gifts. Respondents were also divided on the issue of whether their interactions created conflicts of interest, with most of those who had received gifts agreeing that large gifts would create a conflict of interest (134/163 [82%]) whereas small gifts would not (100/163 [61%]). There were positive correlations between respondents' beliefs about their own susceptibility to influence from sponsored events or receipt of small or large gifts and the susceptibility of others, but 22% of respondents (28/127) expressed a different perception about sponsored events, all believing themselves to be less influenced than their colleagues. Only 6% (4/64) of those who received large gifts and 4% (5/142) of those who received small gifts and felt they were not influenced by these gifts reported that it was likely others would be influenced by the receipt of such gifts. CONCLUSIONS Most hospital pharmacists who responded to this survey had attended industry-sponsored events, and the majority felt that it did not influence their clinical decision-making, despite recognition that the information received is unbalanced. Respondents were divided on the notion of whether these interactions led to conflicts of interest. Respondents generally felt that large and small gifts had different effects on influence and conflict of interest.
Deletion of the 5′‐ABL region: a recurrent anomaly detected by fluorescence in situ hybridization in about 10% of Philadelphia‐positive chronic myeloid leukaemia patients

Inclusion of the BCR–ABL ES probe in routine cytogenetics led to the identification of a subgroup of Philadelphia positive (Ph+) chronic myeloid leukaemia patients characterized by a 5′‐ABL deletion. This anomaly was observed in 5/51 cases (9·8%). Cytological and clinical data suggest that the 5′‐ABL deletion may be associated with dysplastic features of polymorphonuclear cells and metamyelocytes and a short chronic phase duration.
Appliance Ownership and Aspirations Among Electric Grid and Home Solar Households in Rural Kenya

In Sub-Saharan Africa, there are active debates about whether increases in energy access should be driven by investments in electric grid infrastructure or small-scale “home solar” systems (e.g., solar lanterns and solar home systems). We summarize the results of a household electrical appliance survey and describe how households in rural Kenya differ in terms of appliance ownership and aspirations. Our data suggest that home solar is not a substitute for grid power. Furthermore, the environmental advantages of home solar are likely to be relatively small in countries like Kenya, where grid power is primarily derived from non-fossil fuel sources
Repeatability of the Manchester Triage System for children

Objective The authors aimed to assess the repeatability of the Manchester Triage System (MTS) in children. Methods All emergency department nurses (n=43) from a general teaching hospital and a university children's hospital in The Netherlands triaged 20 written case scenarios using the Manchester Triage system. Second, at two emergency departments (EDs), real-life simultaneous triage of patients (<16 years) was performed by ED nurses and two research nurses. The written case scenarios and the patients included in the real-life simultaneous triage study were representative of children attending the ED, in age, problem and urgency level. The authors assessed inter-rater agreement using quadratic weighted kappa values. Results The weighted kappa between the nurses, triaging the case scenarios, was 0.83 (95% CI 0.74 to 0.91). In total, 88% (N=198) of the eligible ED patients were triaged simultaneously, with a weighted κ of 0.65 (95% CI 0.56 to 0.72). Conclusions The MTS showed good to very good repeatability in paediatric emergency care.
The Impact of the Chinese Basketball Association’s Asian-born Player Policy on Competitive Balance

Abstract This study explores the relationship between talent pool size and competitive balance in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA). In particular, the focus of this analysis is on the impact of the Asian-born player policy, which gives CBA teams at the bottom of the standings the ability to sign an additional talented player. Prior theorization suggests that allowing weaker teams to sign additional talent—while also constraining other teams—should reduce the talent gap between teams, and hence improve competitive balance. Based on this, both within-season and cross-season competitive balance metrics were utilized in interrupted time series regressions to estimate whether this policy had an impact on parity. The results find that while the Asian-born player policy did not improve within-season competitive balance, it did lead to better reordering of where teams finished in the final standings. Overall, the findings have important implications in regards to how policy can impact competitive balance.
The impact of indexing approaches on Arabic text classification

This paper investigates the impact of using different indexing approaches (full-word, stem, and root) when classifying Arabic text. In this study, the naïve Bayes classifier is used to construct the multinomial classification models and is evaluated using stratified k-fold cross-validation (k ranges from 2 to 10). It is also uses a corpus that consists of 1000 normalized Arabic documents. The results of one experiment in this study show that significant accuracy improvements have occurred when the full-word form is used in most k-folds. Further experiments show that the classifier has achieved the highest accuracy in the eight-fold by using 7/8–1/8 train–test ratio, despite the indexing approach being used. The overall results of this study show that the classifier has achieved the maximum micro-average accuracy 99.36%, either by using the full-word form or the stem form. This proves that the stem is a better choice to use when classifying Arabic text, because it makes the corpus dataset smaller and this will enhance both the processing time and storage utilization, and achieve the highest level of accuracy.
A predictive model for obstructive sleep apnea and Down syndrome

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) occurs frequently in people with Down syndrome (DS) with reported prevalences ranging between 55% and 97%, compared to 1–4% in the neurotypical pediatric population. Sleep studies are often uncomfortable, costly, and poorly tolerated by individuals with DS. The objective of this study was to construct a tool to identify individuals with DS unlikely to have moderate or severe sleep OSA and in whom sleep studies might offer little benefit. An observational, prospective cohort study was performed in an outpatient clinic and overnight sleep study center with 130 DS patients, ages 3–24 years. Exclusion criteria included previous adenoid and/or tonsil removal, a sleep study within the past 6 months, or being treated for apnea with continuous positive airway pressure. This study involved a physical examination/medical history, lateral cephalogram, 3D photograph, validated sleep questionnaires, an overnight polysomnogram, and urine samples. The main outcome measure was the apnea‐hypopnea index. Using a Logic Learning Machine, the best model had a cross‐validated negative predictive value of 73% for mild obstructive sleep apnea and 90% for moderate or severe obstructive sleep apnea; positive predictive values were 55% and 25%, respectively. The model included variables from survey questions, medication history, anthropometric measurements, vital signs, patient's age, and physical examination findings. With simple procedures that can be collected at minimal cost, the proposed model could predict which patients with DS were unlikely to have moderate to severe obstructive sleep apnea and thus may not need a diagnostic sleep study.
Protein deficiency alters CX3CL1 and endothelin‐1 in experimental Trypanosoma cruzi‐induced cardiomyopathy

Chagas heart disease is developed as a result of the infection with Trypanosoma cruzi. Protein malnutrition contributes to secondary immunodeficiency. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of a low protein diet on the production of endothelin‐1 and CX3CL1 in blood and cardiac tissue samples in an experimental model with T. cruzi infection.
China's Impacts on SSA Through the Lens of Growth and Exports

The analysis of China’s impacts on the 44 SSA countries reveals that: (i) after joining the WTO in 2001, China has started to impact significantly on SSA growth: one-percent increase in China’s GDP per capita leads to 0.02 percent increase on the SSA’s GDP per capita; (ii) oil and investment-goods exporters benefit more from China’s growth; (iii) compared to China’s consumption, its investment growth acts as a more important channel in influencing SSA; (iv) exports to China, highly linked to China’s growth, is an important indicator for SSA’s exports. Our results call for SSA countries to be well prepared for China’s rebalancing given its growing economic influence and to proactively search a sustainable way to continuously enhance productivity.
Spectral analysis of heart rate variability during desflurane and isoflurane anaesthesia in patients undergoing arthroscopy

Background: We studied the effect of desflurane (DES) and isoflurane (ISO) on heart rate variability (HRV) using power spectral analysis (PSA) of RR‐interval in 30 patients undergoing arthroscopy, prior to induction, during anaesthesia and up to 3 h of recovery. PSA can distinguish low‐frequency (LF) component and respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) that are known to reflect predominantly sympathetic and parasympathetic activity, respectively.
Differential Occurrence of Comorbidity Within Childhood Anxiety Disorders

Investigated differences in comorbidity in children ages 8 to 13 (N = 199) with primary diagnoses of generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), separation anxiety disorder (SAD), or social phobia (SP). Children with primary SAD were found to have the highest number of comorbid diagnoses. Specific phobias were more common in children with primary SAD than in those with primary SP, whereas neither group differed from children with primary GAD. Mood disorders were more common in children with GAD or SP than in children with primary SAD. Comorbid externalizing disorders, although present in 17% of the sample, were not found to vary across diagnostic groups. Functional enuresis was most common in children with primary SAD. Results are discussed with respect to diagnostic and treatment issues.
Traveling to a High-volume Center is Associated With Improved Survival for Patients With Esophageal Cancer.

BACKGROUND An association between volume and outcomes has been observed for esophagectomy, though little is known about why or how patients choose low- or high-volume centers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate how travel burden and hospital volume influence treatment and outcomes of patients with locally advanced esophageal cancer. METHODS Predictors of receiving esophagectomy for patients with T1-3N1M0 mid or distal esophageal cancer in the National Cancer Data Base from 2006 to 2011 were identified using multivariable logistic regression. Survival was compared using propensity score-matched groups: patients in the bottom quartile of travel distance who underwent treatment at low-volume facilities (Local) and patients in the top quartile of travel distance who underwent treatment at high-volume facilities (Travel). RESULTS Of 4979 patients who met inclusion criteria, we identified 867 Local patients who traveled 2.7 [interquartile range (IQR): 1.6-4 miles] miles to centers that treated 2.6 (IQR: 1.9-3.3) esophageal cancers per year, and 317 Travel patients who traveled 107.1 (IQR: 65-247) miles to centers treating 31.9 (IQR: 30.9-38.5) cases. Travel patients were more likely to undergo esophagectomy (67.8% vs 42.9%, P < 0.001) and had significantly better 5-year survival (39.8% vs 20.6%, P < 0.001) than Local patients. CONCLUSIONS Patients who travel longer distances to high-volume centers have significantly different treatment and better outcomes than patients who stay close to home at low-volume centers. Strategies that support patient travel for treatment at high-volume centers may improve esophageal cancer outcomes.
Evidence of the relative age effect in football in Australia

Abstract The birth date distributions of elite male and female footballers in Australia, from junior youth (age 14 and upwards) to senior (professional) players, were examined. A statistically significant relative age effect was found among junior male players, reducing in effect with increasing age. An inter-year relative age effect that became apparent among the players at national level in the Under-17 and Under-20 age groups, due to the timing of the respective World Cups for those age groups, was also identified. It is conjectured that this might lead to players born in certain years having a curtailed pathway in the elite game, leading to drop-out among this very elite group. In the case of women elite players, no significant relative age effect was found among youth players, possibly due to less fierce competition for places, although a significant effect was found to exist at senior elite level.
Mean central corneal thickness and corneal power measurements in pigmented and white rabbits using Visante optical coherence tomography and ATLAS corneal topography.

OBJECTIVE To document central corneal thickness (CCT) and power measurements in pigmented and white rabbits using Visante anterior segment optical coherence tomography (AS-OCT) and the Humphrey ATLAS Corneal Topography System (HACTS). ANIMAL STUDIED Fourteen female rabbits (seven pigmented and seven white rabbits) were involved in this study. PROCEDURE Twenty-eight eyes underwent AS-OCT and HACTS examination. Central corneal thickness, corneal power in the steepest and flattest meridians, astigmatism, pupil diameter (PD), and white-to-white (WTW) were calculated. RESULTS The CCT was 390 ± 14.2 and 373 ± 7.2 μm for pigmented and white rabbits, respectively. The CCT values showed statistical difference between the two breeds (P = 0.017). The corneal power in the steepest meridian was 44.6 ± 1.9 Diopter (D) in pigmented rabbits and 47.8 ± 1.5 D in white rabbits. The corneal power in the flattest meridian was 44.0 ± 2.1 D in pigmented rabbits and 47.4 ± 1.5 D in white rabbits. The astigmatism, PD, and WTW values were 0.6 ± 0.22 D, 7.9 ± 0.9, and 14.5 ± 0.1 mm in pigmented rabbits, respectively. The corresponding values in white rabbits were 0.4 ± 0.23 D, 7.5 ± 0.5, and 13.5 ± 0.2 mm. There was a statistically significant difference in corneal power in the steepest and flattest meridians and for WTW. No such difference was observed for astigmatism or PD between them. CONCLUSIONS Differences exist in the CCT, corneal power, and WTW between 5-month-old pigmented and white rabbits. Such difference should be considered when designing cornea-related experiments in rabbits.