Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Influence of essential parameters on the RBF based image reconstruction

Radial basis functions (RBF) based methods are widely used for interpolation of scattered data due to their abilities, so the principles could be also effectively used on reconstruction of damaged images. This paper deals with study of influence of some essential parameters to the image reconstruction using RBF. We focus mainly on parameters such as size of the involved neighbourhood for the reconstruction, various extending elements of the linear system and finally the choice of used radial basis function itself. We also present a new algorithm for reconstructing damaged images. There we focus mainly on getting the best possible visual results of the reconstruction. Our new approach will use RBF principles to calculate damaged pixels, so some time consuming calculations could occur depending on damage character and amount. We test this new algorithm on non-trivial real data damaged by defects of various characters and compare it with another RBF based algorithm.
Resampling Method for Unsupervised Estimation of Cluster Validity

We introduce a method for validation of results obtained by clustering analysis of data. The method is based on resampling the available data. A figure of merit that measures the stability of clustering solutions against resampling is introduced. Clusters that are stable against resampling give rise to local maxima of this figure of merit. This is presented first for a one-dimensional data set, for which an analytic approximation for the figure of merit is derived and compared with numerical measurements. Next, the applicability of the method is demonstrated for higher-dimensional data, including gene microarray expression data.
Polymer opto-chemical-electronic based module as a detection system for volatile analytes on a foil substrate

In this paper, we report on a novel device that addresses the needs for an efficient, field deployable and disposable system in the field of bio-chemical sensors using organic semiconductors. The Fraunhofer Institute has enabled a complete roll-to-roll manufactured polymer-opto-chemical-electronic module on a foil substrate, wherein an electroluminescent light source has been hetero-integrated together with an organic TFT, working as a photo detector. A chemically sensitive, colour changing film is sandwiched in between the two elements to form an optical detection system for volatile analytes such as amines. The setup, henceforth referred to as the “PolyOpto” module, comprises of a dye coated layer that can detect specific chemical reactions by colour change inserted in between the EL light source and the OTFT photo-detector. A hole is laser cut through the system to allow the sensor layer to come in contact with the gases, which then through a chemical reaction, changes colour and initiates a different response in the output of the organic transistor. Hence, this allows for a disposable chemo-analytical system that can be used in various application fields. As compared to conventional systems, the advantage here lies in the direct integration of the different functionalities without any advanced assembly steps, simultaneous use of coatings for both components (transparent electrode and wiring layer) and roll-to-roll compatibility, thus rendering a disposable system. We believe that it aptly demonstrates the capabilities of polytronics in functional integration for low-cost bio-sensor manufacturing.
End-to-end scheduling in real-time packet-switched networks

This paper presents the budgeted-weighted-round-robin (BWRR) algorithm for scheduling the transmission of hard-real-time messages in a packet-switched network. The BWRR algorithm provides a bound on the worst case delay of a message through the network. In addition, with the BWRR algorithm, the necessary buffer space at each switch is predictable and can be fixed at the system configuration time. The per switch delay and required buffer space provided by the BWRR algorithm are significantly less than those provided by previous methods. The BWRR algorithm has a simple hardware implementation and admission test, and it does not require a global clock or any explicit flow control messages. It can achieve high utilization of the network under most practical scenarios and reacts predictably under transient overloads.
New directions in earth observing: Scientific applications of multiangle remote sensing

The physical interpretation of simultaneous multiangle observations represents a relatively new approach to remote sensing of terrestrial geophysical and biophysical parameters. Multiangle measurements enable retrieval of physical scene characteristics, such as aerosol type, cloud morphology and height, and land cover (e.g., vegetation canopy type), providing improved albedo accuracies as well as compositional, morphological, and structural information that facilitates addressing many key climate, environmental, and ecological issues. While multiangle data from wide field-of-view scanners have traditionally been used to build up directional “signatures” of terrestrial scenes through multitemporal compositing, these approaches either treat the multiangle variation as a problem requiring correction or normalization or invoke statistical assumptions that may not apply to specific scenes. With the advent of a new generation of global imaging spectroradiometers capable of acquiring simultaneous visible/near-IR.
Tissue Engineering of a Differentiated Cardiac Muscle Construct

Cardiac tissue engineering is an emerging field. The suitability of engineered heart tissue (EHT) for both in vitro and in vivo applications will depend on the degree of syncytoid tissue formation and cardiac myocyte differentiation in vitro, contractile function, and electrophysiological properties. Here, we demonstrate that cardiac myocytes from neonatal rats, when mixed with collagen I and matrix factors, cast in circular molds, and subjected to phasic mechanical stretch, reconstitute ring-shaped EHTs that display important hallmarks of differentiated myocardium. Comparative histological analysis of EHTs with native heart tissue from newborn, 6-day-old, and adult rats revealed that cardiac cells in EHTs reconstitute intensively interconnected, longitudinally oriented, cardiac muscle bundles with morphological features resembling adult rather than immature native tissue. Confocal and electron microscopy demonstrated characteristic features of native differentiated myocardium; some of these features are absent in myocytes from newborn rats: (1) highly organized sarcomeres in registry; (2) adherens junctions, gap junctions, and desmosomes; (3) a well-developed T-tubular system and dyad formation with the sarcoplasmic reticulum; and (4) a basement membrane surrounding cardiac myocytes. Accordingly, EHTs displayed contractile characteristics of native myocardium with a high ratio of twitch (0.4 to 0.8 mN) to resting tension (0.1 to 0.3 mN) and a strong &bgr;-adrenergic inotropic response. Action potential recordings demonstrated stable resting membrane potentials of −66 to −78 mV, fast upstroke kinetics, and a prominent plateau phase. The data indicate that EHTs represent highly differentiated cardiac tissue constructs, making EHTs a promising material for in vitro studies of cardiac function and tissue replacement therapy.
Barriers and facilitators to voluntary HIV testing uptake among communities at high risk of HIV exposure in Chennai, India

In India, increasing uptake of voluntary HIV testing among ‘core risk groups’ is a national public health priority. While HIV testing uptake has been studied among key populations in India, limited information is available on multi-level barriers and facilitators to HIV testing, and experiences with free, publicly available testing services, among key populations. We conducted 12 focus groups (n = 84) and 12 key informant interviews to explore these topics among men who have sex with men, transgender women, cisgender female sex workers, and injecting drug users in the city of Chennai. We identified inter-related barriers at social-structural, health-care system, interpersonal, and individual levels. Barriers included HIV stigma, marginalised-group stigma, discrimination in health-care settings, including government testing centres, and fears of adverse social consequences of testing HIV positive. Facilitators included outreach programmes operated by community-based/non-governmental organisations, accurate HIV knowledge and risk perception for HIV, and access to drug dependence treatment for injecting drug users. Promoting HIV testing among these key populations requires interventions at several levels: reducing HIV-related and marginalised-group stigma, addressing the fears of consequences of testing, promoting pro-testing peer and social norms, providing options for rapid and non-blood-based HIV tests, and ensuring non-judgmental and culturally competent HIV counselling and testing services.
Two-level active learning method for debris detection using VHR satellite imagery and local aerial surveys

This paper presents a two-level Active Learning (AL) classification method for the interactive detection of earthquake-induced debris via the synergetic use of post-disaster Very High Resolution (VHR) satellite and local decimeter-resolution aerial images. The proposed method is performed by interactively guiding the human expert in the collection of labeled training samples from aerial images and optimally planning further aerial surveys. A label propagation mechanism is adopted to reliably propagate the labeled pixels annotated by the user on the aerial image by visual photointerpretation to the (lower resolution) satellite image. The experimental analysis is carried out using post-disaster images of the 2010 Yushu earthquake in China. The obtained results confirm that the proposed method can significantly reduce the user annotation effort and the cost for acquiring additional aerial images leading to more accurate and timely debris detection maps.
Formalising the subjective interestingness of a linear projection of a data set : two examples

The generic framework for formalising the subjective interestingness of patterns presented in [2] has already been applied to a number of data mining problems, including itemset (tile) mining [3, 8, 9], multi-relational pattern mining [18, 19, 20], clustering [10], and bi-clustering [12, 11]. Also, it has been pointed out without providing detail that also Principal Component Analysis (PCA) [7] can be derived from this framework [2]. This short note describes work-in-progress aiming to show in greater detail how this can be done. It also shows how the framework leads to a robust variant of PCA when used to formalise the subjective interestingness of a data projection for a user who expects outliers to be present in the data.
Interactions among the A and T Units of an ECF-Type Biotin Transporter Analyzed by Site-Specific Crosslinking

Energy-coupling factor (ECF) transporters are a huge group of micronutrient importers in prokaryotes. They are composed of a substrate-specific transmembrane protein (S component) and a module consisting of a moderately conserved transmembrane protein (T component) and two ABC ATPase domains (A components). Modules of A and T units may be dedicated to a specific S component or shared by many different S units in an organism. The mode of subunit interactions in ECF transporters is largely unknown. BioMNY, the focus of the present study, is a biotin transporter with a dedicated AT module. It consists of the S unit BioY, the A unit BioM and the T unit BioN. Like all T units, BioN contains two three-amino-acid signatures with a central Arg residue in a cytoplasmic helical region. Our previous work had demonstrated a central role of the two motifs in T units for stability and function of BioMNY and other ECF transporters. Here we show by site-specific crosslinking of pairs of mono-cysteine variants that the Ala-Arg-Ser and Ala-Arg-Gly signatures in BioN are coupling sites to the BioM ATPases. Analysis of 64 BioN-BioM pairs uncovered interactions of both signatures predominantly with a segment of ∼13 amino acid residues C-terminal of the Q loop of BioM. Our results further demonstrate that portions of all BioN variants with single Cys residues in the two signatures are crosslinked to homodimers. This finding may point to a dimeric architecture of the T unit in BioMNY complexes.
Molecular regulation of the IgE immune response

T cells deliver to B cells the signals required for IgE induction through a complex series of interactions. Allergen-specific B cells capture antigen via their surface Ig molecules, internalize it, process it into peptides which are then presented on the B cell surface in association with MHC class II molecules. Recognition of the antigen/MHC class II complex by the T cell receptor leads to two crucial events: the secretion of lymphokines (in particular, IL-4, which provides the first signal for IgE induction), and the expression of CD40 hgand. CD40 ligand is not detectable on resting T cells, and it is the induction of this molecule that makes T cells finally competent to induce IgE. Engagement of CD40 by its ligand delivers the signal that triggers switch recombination, and results in IgE synthesis (reviewed in [1]). The central role of IL-4 in IgE induction has been confirmed by gene targeting experiments. Mice in which the IL-4 gene had been knocked out by homologous recombination were unable to mount an anti-parasite IgE response [2]. Furthermore, genetic linkage analysis has shown that IL-4, or a nearby gene on chromosome 5q31.1, is responsible for the regulation of overall IgE production [3]. More recently, IL-13, another cytokine encoded on chromosome 5, has been shown to induce IgE synthesis by human B cells [4]. Receptors for IL-4 and IL-13 are thought to share a subunit that is involved in signal transduction (reviewed in [5]). The respective roles of IL-4 and IL-13 in IgE synthesis under physiological conditions remain to be established. CD40 belongs to a newly defined family of cysteinerich transmembrane receptors, which includes the receptor for nerve growth factor and TNFa, CD27, CD30, and the fas antigen. CD40L is a type 2 membrane glycoprotein, which is expressed on activated, but not on resting, TH-1 and TH-2 cells, and is part of a family that includes the ligands for CD27 and CD30, TNFa and lymphotoxin (reviewed in [6]). Cells transfected with CD40L induced IgE synthesis in both murine and human B cells in the presence of IL-4, whereas a soluble
Patient preferences in the treatment of diabetic retinopathy

Objective: Accounting for patient preferences may be especially important in diabetes mellitus, given the challenge in identifying factors associated with treatment adherence. Although preference studies have been performed in diabetes, none have examined treatments used in diabetic retinopathy (DR). The objective of this study was to elicit patient preferences for attributes associated with antivascular endothelial growth factor, focal and panretinal laser, and steroid therapy used in DR management. Methods: A cross-sectional conjoint survey was administered to DR patients at three Canadian eye centers. The survey involved making tradeoffs among 11 DR treatment attributes, including the chance of improving vision and risks of adverse events over a 1-year treatment period. Attribute utilities were summed for each product profile to determine the most preferred treatment. Results: Based on the results from 161 patients, attributes affecting visual functioning, including improving visual acuity and reducing adverse events (eg, chance of cataracts), were more important than those not directly affecting vision (eg, administration). Overall, 52%, 20%, 17%, and 11% preferred the product profiles matching to the antivascular endothelial growth factor, steroid, focal laser, and panretinal laser therapies. Preferences did not vary substantially by previous treatment experience, age, or type of DR (macular edema, proliferative DR, both or neither), with the exception that more macular edema only patients preferred focal laser over steroid treatment (19% versus 14%, respectively). Conclusions: When considering the potential effects of treatment over a 1-year period, treatment preferences in DR are most influenced by those that may positively or negatively affect visual functioning.
Recording evoked potentials during deep brain stimulation: development and validation of instrumentation to suppress the stimulus artefact

The clinical efficacy of deep brain stimulation (DBS) for the treatment of movement disorders depends on the identification of appropriate stimulation parameters. Since the mechanisms of action of DBS remain unclear, programming sessions can be time consuming, costly and result in sub-optimal outcomes. Measurement of electrically evoked compound action potentials (ECAPs) during DBS, generated by activated neurons in the vicinity of the stimulating electrode, could offer insight into the type and spatial extent of neural element activation and provide a potential feedback signal for the rational selection of stimulation parameters and closed-loop DBS. However, recording ECAPs presents a significant technical challenge due to the large stimulus artefact, which can saturate recording amplifiers and distort short latency ECAP signals. We developed DBS-ECAP recording instrumentation combining commercial amplifiers and circuit elements in a serial configuration to reduce the stimulus artefact and enable high fidelity recording. We used an electrical circuit equivalent model of the instrumentation to understand better the sources of the stimulus artefact and the mechanisms of artefact reduction by the circuit elements. In vitro testing validated the capability of the instrumentation to suppress the stimulus artefact and increase gain by a factor of 1000 to 5000 compared to a conventional biopotential amplifier. The distortion of mock ECAP (mECAP) signals was measured across stimulation parameters, and the instrumentation enabled high fidelity recording of mECAPs with latencies of only 0.5 ms for DBS pulse widths of 50 to 100 µs/phase. Subsequently, the instrumentation was used to record in vivo ECAPs, without contamination by the stimulus artefact, during thalamic DBS in an anesthetized cat. The characteristics of the physiological ECAP were dependent on stimulation parameters. The novel instrumentation enables high fidelity ECAP recording and advances the potential use of the ECAP as a feedback signal for the tuning of DBS parameters.
Comparison of daily, weekly, and monthly vitamin D3 in ethanol dosing protocols for two months in elderly hip fracture patients.

BACKGROUND Different dosing protocols have been used for vitamin D supplementation, but there has been a lack of comparative data among them. OBJECTIVE Our objective was to determine whether the same cumulative dose of vitamin D3 produces different effects if it is given daily, weekly, or monthly. DESIGN Women, age 81 +/- 8 yr (+/- sd, n = 48), who had undergone surgery to repair hip fracture were randomized to vitamin D3-supplementation protocols at 1,500 IU daily, or 10,500 IU once weekly, or 45,000 IU once every 28 d. The primary outcome measure was the serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] concentration attained. RESULTS Initially, serum 25(OH)D concentrations for daily, weekly, and monthly groups were, respectively, 15.13 +/- 6.9, 15.7 +/- 10.1, and 16.2 +/- 10.1 ng/ml. By d 7, these had increased significantly in all the groups (P < 0.001). On the first day after the monthly dose, both serum 25(OH)D and serum 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D had increased significantly (P < 0.012 each), whereas these did not change significantly on the day after daily or weekly doses. After 2 months, serum 25(OH)D with daily, weekly, and monthly dosing were, respectively, 33.2 +/- 8.5, 29.2 +/- 8.9, and 37.1 +/- 10.3 ng/ml; there were no significant differences among these values. CONCLUSIONS Supplementation with vitamin D can be achieved equally well with daily, weekly, or monthly dosing frequencies. Therefore, the choice of dose frequency can be based on whichever approach will optimize an individual's adherence with long-term vitamin D supplementation.
A fast algorithm for license plate detection

License Plate Recognition (LPR) is one of the most important types of intelligent transport system and is of considerable interest because of its potential applications to many areas such as highway electronic toll collection, traffic monitoring systems and so on. It was developed to identify vehicles by the contents of their license plate. Research is in progress for the recognition of Korean, Chinese, European and other license plates. In this paper, we will describe a fast algorithm for automatic license plate detection system for the Egyptian license plates that achieves a high detection rate without the need for a high quality images from expensive hardware. The system captures images of the vehicles with a digital camera. An algorithm for the extraction of the license plate has been explained and designed using Matlab. We achieved about 96% detection rate for small dataset.
Designing a head-up game for children

Head-Up Games [19, 20] attempt to combine the technological benefits of modern electronic games with the social and physical advantages of traditional games. To demonstrate this concept, a Head-Up Game for 9- to 11-year-old children was designed and developed iteratively, with intensive involvement of children for play-testing. This paper describes and reflects on the game's design process and the implications regarding the concept of Head-Up Games. The final game, Stop the Bomb, was found to be physically and socially stimulating, understood and enjoyed by the target group, and preferred over a nonelectronic version of the game at first encounter.
Design and Analysis of Valve Less Diffuser Micro Pump ( May 2015 )

Up to the present, the manufacture of the micro pump generally used MEMS processes to obtain micro scale channels. However, the geometry of the channels, the cost is relatively high due to the characteristics of the most micro fabrication techniques. In this research, we focused on manufacture of valve less pumps in inexpensive approach. The design of the valve less pump consists of four horizontal inlet channels and one vertical outlet channel. The geometry of the channels with minimum width gives great challenges in fabrication and is difficult to be achieved by traditional fabrication techniques. Conventional manufacturing process was used to manufacture the chamber and channels of the pump. SOLID WORKS software was applied to the model and plans the manufacturing sequences. The piezoelectric Actuator was attached to the fabricated valve less pump chamber to test the performance. Four different channel width designs were manufactured successfully and tested at various piezotriggered frequencies. This research provides a solution to manufacture the Valve less pump geometry inexpensively. Conventional process was proved to be a suitable approach to generate pre-assembled valve less pump structure with channels, and is applicable to other similar applications.
Segmenting the Optic Disc in Retinal Images using Thresholding

Segmentation of an optic disk location is a very essential task for retinal image analysis. Most of the pervious method uses the principal component analysis method, which are computationally complex. This paper presents a simple and semi automatic approach for segmentation of the optic disc in retinal images using thresholding and boundary extraction. First, the true colour Retinal images are converted to gray image and then image is enhanced using histogram equalization. This improves the efficiency of the conventional thresholding method. The proposed method of segmentation utilizes gray level thresholding for segmentation and then morphological operators are used for extracting the optical disk. The method is tested on the different optical disc images. The method is less complex and efficiently recognizes the boundary of the optic disc and also evaluates the optical canter. The optical canters are tabulated for original and corrupted images.