Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Isomorphic Triangulations with Small Number of Steiner Points

Assume that an isomorphism between two n-vertex simple polygons, P,Q (with k,l reflex vertices, respectively) is given. We present two algorithms for constructing isomorphic (i.e. adjacency preserving) triangulations of P and Q, respectively. The first algorithm computes isomorphic triangulations of P and Q by introducing at most O((k+l)2) Steiner points and has running time O(n+(k+l)2). The second algorithm computes isomorphic traingulations of P and Q by introducing at most O(kl) Steiner points and has running time O(n+kllog n). The number of Steiner points introduced by the second algorithm is also worst-case optimal. Unlike the O(n2) algorithm of Aronov, Seidel and Souvaine1 our algorithms are sensitive to the number of reflex vertices of the polygons. In particular, our algorithms have linear running time when for the first algorithm, and kl≤n/log n for the second algorithm.
Complete versus selective portal triad clamping for minor liver resections: a prospective randomized trial.

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the feasibility, safety, efficacy, amount of hemorrhage, postoperative complications, and ischemic injury of selective clamping in patients undergoing minor liver resections. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA Inflow occlusion can reduce blood loss during hepatectomy. However, Pringle maneuver produces ischemic injury to the remaining liver. Selective hemihepatic vascular occlusion technique can reduce the severity of visceral congestion and total liver ischemia. PATIENTS AND METHODS Eighty patients undergoing minor hepatic resection were randomly assigned to complete clamping (CC) or selective clamping (SC). Hemodynamic parameters, including portal pressure and the hepatic venous pressure gradient (HVPG), were evaluated. The amount of blood loss, measurements of liver enzymes alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), and postoperative evolution were also recorded. RESULTS No differences were observed in the amount of hemorrhage (671 +/- 533 mL versus 735 +/- 397 mL; P = 0.54) or the patients that required transfusion (10% versus 15%; P = 0.55). There were no differences on postoperative morbidity between groups (38% versus 29%; P = 0.38). Cirrhotic patients with CC had significantly higher ALT (7.7 +/- 4.6 versus 4.5 +/- 2.7 mukat/L, P = 0.01) and AST (10.2 +/- 8.7 versus 4.9 +/- 2.1 mukat/L; P = 0.03) values on the first postoperative day than SC. The multivariate analysis demonstrated that high central venous pressure, HVPG >10 mm Hg, and intraoperative blood loss were independent factors related to morbidity. CONCLUSIONS Both techniques of clamping are equally effective and feasible for patients with normal liver and undergoing minor hepatectomies. However, in cirrhotic patients selective clamping induces less ischemic injury and should be recommended. Finally, even for minor hepatic resections, central venous pressure, HVPG, and intraoperative blood loss are factors related to morbidity and should be considered.
Model for SLA-Based VM Scheduling in Federated Cloud Environments

The future will see more and more cloud service providers joining forces as cloud federations so as to offer their customers a wider range of services whilst optimizing usage of their resources. Service level agreements (SLAs) form the basis for these federations by defining the quality of services between the providers themselves and between the provider and the customer. The distributed, SLA-based scheduling of virtual machines (VMs) presents a major challenge. For this reason a general model is developed that will allow us to explore different VM scheduling strategies in distributed cloud federations. This model can be used as a template to investigate complex cloud federation scenarios using the multi-level scheduler presented here.
A Pathogenic Peripherin Gene Mutation in a Patient with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

Peripherin is a neuronal intermediate filament protein that is expressed chiefly in motor neurons and other nerve cells that project into the peripheral nervous system. Transgenic mice that over‐express peripherin develop motor neuron degeneration, suggesting that mutations in peripherin could contribute to the development of motor neuron disease. In this paper, we report the identification of a homozygous mutation in the peripherin gene (PRPH) in a patient with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The mutation resulted in a substitution of aspartate with tyrosine at amino acid position 141, which is located within the first linker region of the rod domain. Immunocytochemical analysis of the spinal cord of the patient upon autopsy revealed distinctive large aggregates within the cell bodies of residual spinal motor neurons that contained peripherin and was also immunoreactive with antibodies to the neurofilament proteins. In order to study the effect of the mutation on peripherin assembly, we performed transient transfections. Unlike wild‐type peripherin, which self‐assembles to form a filamentous network, the mutant peripherin was prone to form aggregates in transfected cells, indicating that the mutation adversely affects peripherin assembly. Moreover, the neurofilament light (NF‐L) protein was not able to rescue the mutant protein from forming aggregates. These data imply that mutation of PRPH is a contributing factor for ALS.
Effect of Ice Surface Size on Collision Rates and Head Impacts at the World Junior Hockey Championships, 2002 to 2004

Objective:To determine if collision rates and head impacts in elite junior hockey differed between games played on the small North American ice surface (85 ft wide), an intermediate-size Finnish ice surface (94 ft wide), and the large standard international ice surface (100 ft wide). Design:Videotape analysis of all games involving Team Canada from the 2002 (large ice, Czech Republic), 2003 (small ice, Canada), and 2004 (intermediate ice, Finland) World Junior Championships. All collisions were counted and separated into various categories (volitional player/player bodychecks, into boards or open ice, plus accidental/incidental player/boards, player/ice, head/stick, head/puck). Further subdivisions included collisions involving the head directly or indirectly and notably severe head impacts. Results:Small, intermediate, and large ice surface mean collisions/game, respectively, were 295, 258, 222, total collisions; 251, 220, 181, volitional bodychecks; 126, 115, 88, into boards; 125, 106, 93, open ice; 71, 52, 44, total head; 44, 36, 30, indirect head; 26, 16, 13, direct head; and 1.3, 0.5, 0.3, severe head (P < 0.05 for small-intermediate ice and intermediate-large ice differences in total collisions; P < 0.005 for small-large ice difference; P < 0.05 for small-intermediate ice differences in head impacts; P < 0.01 for small-large ice differences in total and severe head impacts). Conclusions:There is a significant inverse correlation between ice size and collision rates in elite hockey, including direct, indirect, and severe head impacts. These findings suggest that uniform usage of the larger international rinks could reduce the risk of injury, and specifically, concussions in elite hockey by decreasing the occurrence of collisions and head impacts.
Quality of post-abortion care in public health facilities in Ethiopia

Abstract Background: Comprehensive quality Post Abortion Care (PAC) is one of the important strategies to save lives where access to safe abortion is restricted by Law and services are inaccessible. Objective: The objective of the study was to assess the status of quality of PAC in health facilities of Amhara and Oromiya regional states. Methods: The study was cross-sectional by design and was conducted from November 2002 to March 2003. Patient interview, provider interview and direct service delivery observation were utilized to capture different aspects of care. Eleven health facilities (five in Oromiya and six in Amhara Regions), 103 post-abortion patients and 87 health service providers were included in the study. Results: although facilities were found to be prepared to manage abortion complications, some patients were delayed from receiving services because of requirement to pay before getting services, and to buy drugs and supplies from other sources. Patient-provider interaction was generally satisfactory as viewed by the respondents. Majority (88.3%) of patients felt that PAC services maintained confidentiality. Patients were not informed about the steps of each procedure. Nearly two-third of service providers informed the patients about the cause of their problem, but only 50.5% of them told the outcome of treatment. Information provision regarding important precautions and warning signs was uniformly very low in all study facilities. Only 53.4% of patients left the facilities counseled about family planning and 44.7% with contraceptives. But, 84.5% of women do not plan pregnancy within three months following the abortion. Great majority of the patients responded that they were satisfied with services they have obtained. Dissatisfaction included maltreatment by service providers, and inconvenient setup of service delivery. Patient assessment was principally based on last menstrual period and bimanual pelvic examination in most of the facilities. Service providers do not usually stick to infection prevention and universal precautions. Conclusion: the study has shown areas of improvement for better services to respond to various needs of the postabortion patients. [Ethiop.J.Health Dev. 2008;22 (1):26-33]
Duloxetine, pregabalin, and duloxetine plus gabapentin for diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain management in patients with inadequate pain response to gabapentin: an open-label, randomized, noninferiority comparison.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether duloxetine is noninferior to (as good as) pregabalin in the treatment of pain associated with diabetic peripheral neuropathy. PATIENTS AND METHODS We performed a 12-week, open-label study of patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathic pain who had been treated with gabapentin (≥ 900 mg/d) and had an inadequate response (defined as a daily pain score of ≥ 4 on a numerical rating scale [0-10 points]). The first patient was enrolled on September 28, 2006, and the last patient visit occurred on August 26, 2009. Patients were randomized to duloxetine monotherapy (n=138), pregabalin monotherapy (n=134), or a combination of duloxetine and gabapentin (n=135). The primary objective was a noninferiority comparison between duloxetine and pregabalin on improvement in the weekly mean of the diary-based daily pain score (0- to 10-point scale) at end point. Noninferiority would be declared if the mean improvement for duloxetine was no worse than the mean improvement for pregabalin, within statistical variability, by a margin of -0.8 unit. RESULTS The mean change in the pain rating at end point was -2.6 for duloxetine and -2.1 for pregabalin. The 97.5% lower confidence limit was a -0.05 difference in means, establishing noninferiority. As to adverse effects, nausea, insomnia, hyperhidrosis, and decreased appetite were more frequent with duloxetine than pregabalin; insomnia, more frequent with duloxetine than duloxetine plus gabapentin; peripheral edema, more frequent with pregabalin than with duloxetine; and nausea, hyperhidrosis, decreased appetite, and vomiting, more frequent with duloxetine plus gabapentin than with pregabalin. CONCLUSION Duloxetine was noninferior to pregabalin for the treatment of pain in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy who had an inadequate pain response to gabapentin. TRIAL REGISTRATION clinicaltrials.gov Identifier: NCT00385671.
Factors influencing the outcome of bone marrow transplants using unrelated donors

Summary: The use of unrelated donors for bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is associated with an increased morbidity and mortality when compared with HLA‐identica3 donors, primarily due to an increased rate of graft‐versus‐host disease, but also to increased susceptibility to infections and graft failure. HLA matching for donors and recipients is the single most important factor influencing the outcome of BMT. However, unrelated donor selection generally relies on matching only for HLA‐A,‐B and ‐DR antigens without considering potential incompatibility for other HLA loci, such as HLA‐C. ‐DQ and ‐DP In addition, other factors that affect the outcome of BMT need to be taken into consideration in selecting the best unrelated donor. In this review, we will focus on the effects of HLA‐associated factors in determining the result of a transplant procedure. We will also mention other relevant factors, drawing on our experience of laboratory studies performed at The Anthony Nolan Research Institute and clinical studies at the Hammersmith Hospital in London.
Health-Related On-Line Forums: What's the Big Attraction?

This study investigates what motivates people to make use of health-related online forums, and how people feel that using these forums helps them in coping with their situation. Results are based on an online questionnaire (N = 189) among users of a variety of health forums. Findings show an overall positive effect of using forums on the degree to which people are better able to cope with the situation they are facing, both socially and with their condition. This especially holds for people who find forums a convenient tool for inclusion or gathering information. A negative effect on coping, however, is found for people who primarily use forums for discussion. The study also shows that features that often are mentioned in literature on computer-mediated communication (i.e., the anonymity it affords, its text-based character, and the possibility it offers for network expansion) are recognized but appreciated differently by users. Users who feel stigmatized especially appreciate the anonymity of online forums, while people who are restricted in their mobility appreciate the possibilities for network expansion.
Non-linear computational geometry for planar algebraic curves. (Ge'ome'trie algorithmique non line'aire et courbes alge'briques planaires)

We tackle in this thesis the problem of computing the topology of plane algebraic curves. We present an algorithm that avoids special treatment of degenerate cases, based on algebraic tools such as Grobner bases and rational univariate representations. We implemented this algorithm and showed its performance by comparing to similar existing programs. We also present an output-sensitive complexity analysis of this algorithm. We then discuss the tools that are necessary for the implementation of non-linear geometric algorithms in CGAL, the reference library in the computational geometry community. We present an univariate algebraic kernel for CGAL, a set of functions aimed to handle curved objects defined by univariate polynomials. We validated our approach by comparing it to other similar implementations.
Research for development of industrial coating equipment based on an electrothermal launcher

Investigations of powder material microparticle acceleration in a pulsed electrothermal launcher made it possible to solve some problems related to the development of an industrial coating equipment. One of those problems is the increase of the life time of the launcher discharge units. Study of erosion wear of launcher electrodes was performed on a specially constructed experimental bench. The shape of electrodes made from WNiFe alloy was chosen so that the erosion wear was decreased by more than an order of magnitude (from 0.36 mg per a discharge down to 0.01 mg per a discharge). That resulted in the increase of the launcher operational time to several working shifts. For the ablation wear of the discharge unit dielectric walls to be studied two models have been developed. The first one allows us to determine heat flux of the discharge plasma in argon media. The other one describes the process of that flux propagation in dielectric walls. The experimental determination of the ablation wear was carried out on a launcher prototype with corundum bushings. The analysis of calculated and experimental results has . shown that for normal operational regimes the typical ablation value was about 1 mg/shot.
N‐methyl‐D‐aspartate and TrkB receptors protect neurons against glutamate excitotoxicity through an extracellular signal‐regulated kinase pathway

N‐Methyl‐D‐aspartate (NMDA) at a subtoxic concentration (100 μM) promotes neuronal survival against glutamate‐mediated excitotoxicity via a brain‐derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) autocrine loop in cultured cerebellar granule cells. The signal transduction mechanism(s) underlying NMDA neuroprotection, however, remains elusive. The mitogen‐activated protein kinase (MAPK) and phosphatidylinositol‐3 kinase (PI3‐K) pathways alter gene expression and are involved in synaptic plasticity and neuronal survival. This study tested whether neuroprotective activation of NMDA receptors, together with TrkB receptors, coactivated the MAPK or PI3‐K pathways to protect rat cerebellar neurons. NMDA receptor activation caused a concentration‐ and time‐dependent activation of MAPK lasting 24 hr. This activation was blocked by the NMDA receptor antagonist MK‐801 but was attenuated only partially by the tyrosine kinase inhibitor k252a, suggesting that activation of both NMDA and TrkB receptors are required for maximal neuroprotection. The MAPK kinase (MEK) inhibitor U0126 (10 μM) partially blocked NMDA neuroprotection, whereas LY294002, a selective inhibitor of the PI3‐K pathway, did not affect the neuroprotective activity of NMDA. Glutamate excitotoxicity decreased bcl‐2, bcl‐XL, and bax mRNA levels,. NMDA increases Bcl‐2 and Bcl‐XL protein levels and decreases Bax protein levels. NMDA and TrkB receptor activation thus converge on the extracellular signal‐regulated kinase (ERK) 1/2 signaling pathway to protect neurons against glutamate‐mediated excitotoxicity. By increasing antiapoptotic proteins of the Bcl‐2 family, NMDA receptor activation may also promote neuronal survival by preventing apoptosis. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Problem - Solving Oscillations in Complex Engineering Projects

Coordination among many interdependent actors in complex product development projects is recognized as a key activity in organizational theory. It is well known that this coordination becomes progressively more difficult with project size, but we do not yet sufficiently understand whether this effect can be controlled with frequent and rich communication among project members, or whether it is inevitable. Recent work in complexity theory suggests that a project might form a "rugged landscape," for which performance deterioration with system size is inevitable.This paper builds a mathematical model of a complex design project that is divided into components (subproblems) and integrated back to the system. The model explicitly represents local component decisions, as well as component interactions in determining system performance. The model shows, first, how a rugged performance landscape arises even from simple components with simple performance functions, if the components are interdependent.Second, we characterize the dynamic behavior of the system analytically and with simulations. We show under which circumstances it exhibits performance oscillations or divergence to design solutions with low performance. Third, we derive classes of managerial actions available to improve performance dynamics, such as modularization, immediate communication, and exchanging preliminary information. Some of these have not yet received adequate attention in literature and practice.
Transmission of 4-ASK Optical Fast OFDM With Chromatic Dispersion Compensation

We experimentally demonstrate transmission of 20-Gb/s four-amplitude-shifted-keying optical fast orthogonal frequency-division-multiplexing (F-OFDM) over various fiber lengths up to 840 km, and show that symmetric extension, instead of cyclic extension, based guard interval (GI) is required to enable chromatic dispersion (CD) compensation using one-tap equalizers after channel demultiplexing. We characterize the CD tolerance under different GI lengths and investigate the impact of fiber nonlinearity on the system performance.
Constraint damping in the Z4 formulation and harmonic gauge

We show that by adding suitable lower-order terms to the Z4 formulation of the Einstein equations, all constraint violations except constant modes are damped. This makes the Z4 formulation a particularly simple example of a λ-system as suggested by Brodbeck et al (1999 J. Math. Phys. 40 909). We also show that the Einstein equations in harmonic coordinates can be obtained from the Z4 formulation by a change of variables that leaves the implied constraint evolution system unchanged. Therefore, the same method can be used to damp all constraints in the Einstein equations in harmonic gauge.
Optimizing the number of tests for carpal tunnel syndrome

The combined sensory index (CSI), the sum of three latency differences, median‐ulnar across the palm (palmdiff), median‐ulnar to the ring finger (ringdiff), and median‐radial to the thumb (thumbdiff), has higher sensitivity and reliability for carpal tunnel syndrome than individual tests. The objective in this study was to develop an approach that minimizes testing but maximizes accuracy. We retrospectively studied 300 hands. There were endpoints for individual tests that confidently predicted the CSI; for ranges between these endpoints, further testing was required. These ranges were: palmdiff 0–0.3 ms; ringdiff 0.1–0.4 ms; and thumbdiff 0.2–0.7 ms. One may use a strategy in which more tests are performed when results are in these ranges. This approach can allow accurate diagnosis with fewer tests when values are extreme, yet uses the greater diagnostic power of more tests when values are midrange. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Muscle Nerve 23: 1880–1882, 2000
Exploring a dynamic framework of innovative capability: a theoretical integration of technological and marketing capabilities

A conceptual framework is presented to address the interaction of innovative capability, marketing capability and technological capability. The proposed framework attempts to examine the role of marketing and technological capabilities in developing innovative capability. While innovation has been linked to market orientation through organisational innovativeness, little is known about learning processes between exploration and exploitation for enhancing innovative capability. This paper suggests four theoretical propositions to: (a) distinguish the difference between tactical and strategic marketing capabilities for enhancing innovative capability; (b) examine technological capability as mediator of marketing capability and innovation capability; (c) explore the processes of exploration and exploitation in enhancing innovative capability; and (d) integrate environmental uncertainty as moderator of innovative capability.
The Influence of Palm Kernel Cake on Haematology and Blood Chemistry of Mixed Domesticated Turkeys ( Meleagris gallopavo )

Eighty day old mixed breed and indigenous turkey poults were investigated to analyse the influence of feeding Palm kernel cake (PKC) diet on haematology and blood chemistry. The diets were 1, 2, 3, and 4 containing 0, 10, 20 and 30% inclusion levels of PKC in the starter phase. The blood samples were obtained from the control and treatment turkeys at the end of the exposure period. While haemoglobin, packed cell volume, total protein, albumin, globulin and alanine amino transferase showed no significant differences (P> 0.05) among the diets, aspartate amino transferase (AST), cholesterol and total red blood cells (RBC) showed significant differences (P<0.05) across the diets. Provided the dietary requirements are met, PKC can be incorporated up to a level of 30% in turkey rations without adverse effects on their health.