Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Detection of Surfaces and Edges in Large Point-Clouds Using Region-Growing on Spherical Space

Engineering facilities can be digitized as large-scale point-clouds by using the state-of-art mid-range laser scanners. For utilizing captured data in CAD systems, it is important to convert point-clouds to parametric surfaces. In this paper, we describe a method for robustly extract cylindrical faces and planar faces. Edges and silhouette lines have to be generated to construct bounded faces, but unfortunately points on silhouettes are very noisy in the case of mid-range laser scanners. Our method applies region-growing method on spherical space and improves the robustness. In addition, we enhance the region-growing so that surface regions can be propagated to disconnect points using multiple overlapping point-clouds.
Adding parallelism to the hybrid image processing library in multi-threading and multi-core systems

The paper presents a hybrid image processing library adapted to take full advantage of the multi-threading and multi-core computer systems. Architecture of the library follows the handle-body design pattern. The handle layer represents an abstract interface which hides implementation details and leaves the user's code untouched. Software/hardware implementations are hidden in the body layers which allow for high level of parallelism and best exploitation of the available resources. The first aim of this paper is to present a short introduction to the new version of the library which is available from the Internet. The second purpose is to present refactoring of the software layer with help of the OpenMP to take advantage of the multi-core systems, as well as to share expertise in using this technology in other object-oriented platforms for massive data processing. Experimental results show on average two-three times acceleration in the refactored layers.
TN-TIES: A System for Extracting Temporal Information from Emergency Department Triage Notes

The triage note field of the Emergency Department (ED) patient record describes the reason for the patient's visit, including specific symptoms and incidents. Here we present the Triage Note Temporal Information Extraction System (TN-TIES), which systematically processes triage note text and outputs a human and machine readable interpretation of the timing of the events leading up to the ED visit. TN-TIES consists of chunking, classification, and interpretation processing stages. The results at each stage are promising. This system is a first step towards a complete interpretation and timeline presentation of all events that occurred before a patients visit to the ED, which could help clinicians, public health officials, and others understand and visualize the data.
Consumers’ preferences for nanotechnology in food packaging: a discrete choice experiment

type="main" xml:id="jage12088-abs-0001"> We examine consumers' preferences for chickens under different levels of foodborne health risk, animal welfare and pric attributes. We analyse how their preferences vary according to the risk reduction method. Our comparison is between risk reductions achieved by conventional improvements in the meat supply chain system (e.g. more stringent regulations and inspection regimes), and risk reductions achieved by food packaging nanosensors. Our comparison uses a two-treatment discrete choice experiment in which each treatment sample is only presented with one of the risk reductions: either nanotechnology or conventional methods. We also investigate heterogeneity in preferences for two consumer groups: (i) consumers who usually buy conventional raw, whole chickens, and (ii) consumers who usually buy niche, welfare-improved chickens, such as free-range and organic. Our results show evidence of heterogeneity in preferences and willingness- to-pay values of the both consumer groups. We find that consumers, on average, prefer raw, whole chicken with a lower risk of food poisoning, better animal welfare, and lower costs, regardless of the presence of nanosensors. Although consumers in general showed no strong preferences towards or resistance to nanotechnology, those who buy chickens with better animal welfare, on average, showed higher WTP for food risk reduction and animal welfare relative to conventional chicken consumers.
Adding New Bi-Asserting Clauses for Faster Search in Modern SAT Solvers

In this paper, a new approach for clauses learning is proposed. By traversing the implication graph sepa- rately from x and ¬x, we derive a new class of bi-asserting clauses that can lead to a more compact implication graph. These new kinds of bi-asserting clauses are much shorter and tend to induce more implications than the classical bi-asserting clauses. Experimental results show that exploiting this new class of bi-asserting clauses improves the performance of state-of-the-art SAT solvers particularly on crafted instances.
Dopant and Carrier Concentration Profiling with Atomic Resolution by Scanning Tunneling Microscopy

We show that the scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) has the ability to detect the surface potential and the individual dopant atoms with extremely high spatial resolution on flat and electrically inert Si surfaces. The actual measurements are demonstrated for both the ultra-thin oxidized surface and the NH4F-treated Si (111) surface. The latter treatment yields atomically flat hydrogenated surfaces, on which atomic resolution is available. This surface enabled us to analyze correlation between the potential variation and the statistical fluctuation of dopant atom distribution for a p-n junction region. Another example is quantitative potential profiling based on scanning resonance tunneling spectroscopy of molecular levels of C60 deposited on oxidized Si surfaces. Mechanisms of these measurements are discussed.
Extended information inference model for unsupervised categorization of web short texts

Traditional text-processing methods encounter significant performance degradation when they are applied to web short texts, with their inherent characteristics including feature sparseness, lack of sufficient hand-labelled training examples, domain dependence, and asyntactic expression. In this paper we propose a modified information inference model that can mimic human cognitive behaviour to categorize various web short texts in an unsupervised manner. The model is based on the conceptual space theory and hyperspace analogue to language (HAL) model, and it is a novel development in that it combines domain-specific knowledge and universal knowledge via a fusion mechanism for multiple HAL spaces. Moreover, in the realization of conceptual space, a concept is represented geometrically by a two-tuple of property sets, which can effectively improve the representation accuracy of the information contained in combined concepts. Two measurements of the relationship between concepts are used to implement the information inference for web short texts. The experimental evaluation of our model is conducted via three different tasks on web short text categorization, and the results indicate the applicability and usefulness of the proposed method.
Learn to Model Motion from Blurry Footages

It is difficult to recover the motion field from a real-world footage given a mixture of camera shake and other photometric effects. In this paper we propose a hybrid framework by interleaving a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) and a traditional optical flow energy. We first conduct a CNN architecture using a novel learnable directional filtering layer. Such layer encodes the angle and distance similarity matrix between blur and camera motion, which is able to enhance the blur features of the camera-shake footages. The proposed CNNs are then integrated into an iterative optical flow framework, which enable the capability of modelling and solving both the blind deconvolution and the optical flow estimation problems simultaneously. Our framework is trained end-to-end on a synthetic dataset and yields competitive precision and performance against the state-of-the-art approaches.
Constraint-guided dynamic reconfiguration in sensor networks

This work presents an approach for dynamic software reconfiguration in sensor networks. Our approach utilizes explicit models of the design space of the embedded application. The design space is captured by formally modeling all the software components, their interfaces, and their composition. System requirements are expressed as formal constraints on QoS parameters that are measured at runtime. Reconfiguration is performed by transitioning from one point of the operation space to another based on the constraints. We demonstrate our approach using simulation results for a simple sensor network that performs one-dimensional tracking.
Relationship of acupuncture points and meridians to connective tissue planes

Acupuncture meridians traditionally are believed to constitute channels connecting the surface of the body to internal organs. We hypothesize that the network of acupuncture points and meridians can be viewed as a representation of the network formed by interstitial connective tissue. This hypothesis is supported by ultrasound images showing connective tissue cleavage planes at acupuncture points in normal human subjects. To test this hypothesis, we mapped acupuncture points in serial gross anatomical sections through the human arm. We found an 80% correspondence between the sites of acupuncture points and the location of intermuscular or intramuscular connective tissue planes in postmortem tissue sections. We propose that the anatomical relationship of acupuncture points and meridians to connective tissue planes is relevant to acupuncture's mechanism of action and suggests a potentially important integrative role for interstitial connective tissue. Anat Rec (New Anat) 269:257–265, 2002. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Planning multiple movements within a fixed time limit: the cost of constrained time allocation in a visuo-motor task.

S. -W. Wu, M. F. Dal Martello, and L. T. Maloney (2009) evaluated subjects' performance in a visuo-motor task where subjects were asked to hit two targets in sequence within a fixed time limit. Hitting targets earned rewards and Wu et al. varied rewards associated with targets. They found that subjects failed to maximize expected gain; they failed to invest more time in the movement to the more valuable target. What could explain this lack of response to reward? We first considered the possibility that subjects require training in allocating time between two movements. In Experiment 1, we found that, after extensive training, subjects still failed: They did not vary time allocation with changes in payoff. However, their actual gains equaled or exceeded the expected gain of an ideal time allocator, indicating that constraining time itself has a cost for motor accuracy. In a second experiment, we found that movements made under externally imposed time limits were less accurate than movements made with the same timing freely selected by the mover. Constrained time allocation cost about 17% in expected gain. These results suggest that there is no single speed-accuracy tradeoff for movement in our task and that subjects pursued different motor strategies with distinct speed-accuracy tradeoffs in different conditions.
Defective Resection at DNA Double-Strand Breaks Leads to De Novo Telomere Formation and Enhances Gene Targeting

The formation of single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) at double-strand break (DSB) ends is essential in repair by homologous recombination and is mediated by DNA helicases and nucleases. Here we estimated the length of ssDNA generated during DSB repair and analyzed the consequences of elimination of processive resection pathways mediated by Sgs1 helicase and Exo1 nuclease on DSB repair fidelity. In wild-type cells during allelic gene conversion, an average of 2–4 kb of ssDNA accumulates at each side of the break. Longer ssDNA is formed during ectopic recombination or break-induced replication (BIR), reflecting much slower repair kinetics. This relatively extensive resection may help determine sequences involved in homology search and prevent recombination within short DNA repeats next to the break. In sgs1Δ exo1Δ mutants that form only very short ssDNA, allelic gene conversion decreases 5-fold and DSBs are repaired by BIR or de novo telomere formation resulting in loss of heterozygosity. The absence of the telomerase inhibitor, PIF1, increases de novo telomere pathway usage to about 50%. Accumulation of Cdc13, a protein recruiting telomerase, at the break site increases in sgs1Δ exo1Δ, and the requirement of the Ku complex for new telomere formation is partially bypassed. In contrast to this decreased and alternative DSB repair, the efficiency and accuracy of gene targeting increases dramatically in sgs1Δ exo1Δ cells, suggesting that transformed DNA is very stable in these mutants. Altogether these data establish a new role for processive resection in the fidelity of DSB repair.
Glitazones exert multiple effects on beta-cell stimulus-secretion coupling

: Aims/hypothesis: Earlier studies suggest that glitazones exert beneficial effects in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) by directly affecting insulin secretion of beta-cells besides improving the effectiveness of insulin in peripheral tissues. The effects of glitazones on stimulus-secretion coupling (SSC) are poorly understood. Methods: We tested the influence of troglitazone and pioglitazone on different parameters of SSC including insulin secretion (RIA), cell membrane potential V m , various ion currents (patch-clamp), mitochondrial membrane potential ΔΨ, and cytosolic Ca 2+ concentration (fluorescence). Results: Troglitazone exerted stimulatory, inhibitory or no effects on insulin secretion depending on the drug and glucose concentration. It depolarized the mitochondrial membrane potential ΔΨ , thus lowering ATP production which results in opening of K ATP channels and reduced insulin secretion. However, it also exerted direct inhibitory effects on K ATP channels that can explain enhanced insulin secretion. Troglitazone also inhibited the currents through voltage-dependent Ca 2+ and K + channels. Pioglitazone was less effective than troglitazone on all parameters tested. The effects of both glitazones were markedly reduced in the presence of BSA. Conclusions: Glitazones exert multiple actions on beta-cell SSC which have to be considered as undesired side effects because the influence of these compounds on beta-cells is not controllable. The final effect on insulin secretion depends on many parameters including the actual glucose and drug concentration, protein binding of the drug and the drug by itself. Troglitazone and pioglitazone differ in their influence on SSC. It can be assumed that the effects of pioglitazone on beta-cells are negligible under in vivo conditions.
A Method to Reduce the Search Space of TSP

A method to convert a frequency graph into a frequency sub-graph is proposed to reduce the search space of traveling salesman problem (TSP). The frequency graph is computed with a set of local optimal Hamiltonian paths (LOHPs). The numbers on the edges are their frequencies emulated from the set of LOHPs. It includes the law of conversion between the LOHPs and the global optimal solution. The frequency threshold is derived to delete the edges with frequencies below it and a sparse frequency sub-graph is obtained. A smaller number of edges exist in the frequency sub-graph and the search space of TSP is reduced. A branch and bound algorithm is designed to search the optimal solution Based on the frequency sub-graph. The computation results show that the optimal solutions are found within an acceptable computation time.
Nonnegative Matrix Factorization and Probabilistic Latent Semantic Indexing: Equivalence Chi-Square Statistic, and a Hybrid Method

Non-negative Matrix Factorization (NMF) and Probabilistic Latent Semantic Indexing (PLSI) have been successfully applied to document clustering recently. In this paper, we show that PLSI and NMF optimize the same objective function, although PLSI and NMF are different algorithms as verified by experiments. This provides a theoretical basis for a new hybrid method that runs PLSI and NMF alternatively, each jumping out of local minima of the other method successively, thus achieving better final solution. Extensive experiments on 5 real-life datasets show relations between NMF and PLSI, and indicate the hybrid method lead to significant improvements over NMF-only or PLSI-only methods. We also show that at first order approximation, NMF is identical to χ2-statistic.
Experimental Research on Deep Cryogenic Treatment Process of YT30 Cemented Carbide Inserts

Deep Cryogenic treatment (DCT) is a one time permanent process, carried out in such a way that the material is slowly cooled down to the cryogenic temperature, after which it is held at that temperature for a specified period of time and is heated back to room temperature at slow rate followed by low temperature tempering. In this study, the orthogonal experiment method was used to study the DCT process of YT30 cemented carbide inserts. The primary relation of the different factors of DCT was analyzed. TH300 sclerometer was used to measure the hardness of inserts. The microscopes were used to observe the wearing profiles of inserts and microstructures before and after DCT. The orthogonal experiment results show that the effect of soaking temperature on the properties of inserts is the first factor, the soaking time is second one, the cooling rate is third one, and the last one is the tempering temperature. DCT improves the multi-type martensite transformation of Co. Therefore DCT increases hardness and enhance wear resistance of the cemented carbide inserts.
Cache-Enabled Uplink Transmission in Wireless Small Cell Networks

It is starting to become a big trend in the era of social networking that people produce and upload user-generated contents to the Internet via wireless networks, bringing a significant burden on wireless uplink networks. In this paper, we contribute to designing and theoretical understanding of wireless cache-enabled uplink transmission in a delay-tolerant small cell network to relieve the burden, and then propose the corresponding scheduling policies for the small base station (SBS) with a limited cache size. Specifically, the cache ability introduced by the SBS enables the SBS to eliminate the redundancy among the upload contents from users. This strategy not only alleviates the wireless backhaul traffic congestion from the SBS to a macro base station (MBS) but also improves the transmission efficiency from users to the SBS. We then investigate the scheduling scheme to offload more data traffic under caching size constraint. Finally, numerical results are provided to demonstrate the significant performance gains of the proposed wireless cache-enabled upload network.
Allelotype of Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma Using Xenograft Enrichment 1

p53 and MTSJ are known to be mutationally inactivated in pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Other tumor suppressor genes are likely also to play a role. To define chromosomal arms which may harbor additional tumor suppressor genes, we performed an extensive allelotype on pancreatic cancer utilizing a xenograft enrichment technique. Eighty-eight percent (28/32) of primary tumors gave rise to xenografts. Eighteen cases were used in a PCR-based allelotype using 283 polymorphic markers, over 2800 informative assays, and an average coverage of 4.1 informative markers per chromosomal arm per case. Highly frequent allelic loss (>60%) was seen at chromosomes ip, 9p, 17p, and 18q. Moderately frequent allelic loss (40â€”60%) was seen at 3p, tip, 6q, 8p, IOq, 12q, 13q, l8p, 21q, and 22q. The average fractional allelic loss was 0.36. Allelic and sequence stability was demonstrated among 64 parallel and second-passage xenografts derived from 12 cases of pancreatic adenocarcinoma with the ascertainment of over 3000 single alleles. The findings were confirmed in primary tumors. In only two instances were discrepancies revealed between the allelic loss data obtained from corresponding parallel xenografts, probably due to the xenografting of minor subpopulations, reflecting genetic heterogeneity of the primary tumor.
Evaluation of Surface (Top Down) Longitudinal Wheel Path Cracking

The research involved evaluating three surface cracked pavements during 2002 and 2003. A 500 m section of I-65 North of Lafayette was chosen as the first site (designated as Site 1), an I-65 section in downtown Indianapolis was the second site (Site 2), and US-421 in Madison was the third site (Site 3). Site 1 had 11-year-old pavement, Site 2 had 12-year-old pavement and Site 3 had 4.5-year-old pavement. All these sites exhibited longitudinal wheel path cracking which was later identified as top-down cracking. All sites had excellent structural capacity indicating that the top-down cracking was confined in the pavement surface. This was confirmed by visual inspection of cores. The causes for top-down cracking in the surface layer were identified as follows: 1) non-uniformities in the material properties caused by construction practices such as segregation; 2) high in-situ air void content; 3) low amount of fines in mixtures; and 4) aging of binder. However, the study was not able to identify/verify any structural causes for top-down cracking.
A pilot study in the recovery and recognition of non-osseointegrated dental implants following cremation.

Minimal dimensional changes in free standing dental implants when incinerated in a kiln to a temperature of 1125°C have been reported previously. However, in the same study colour changes were observed between commercially pure titanium and titanium alloy type of implants, with speculation that this change may be a useful distinguishing tool in cases requiring forensic identification. The present study was instigated to determine what changes occur following cremation to bone-supported dental implants placed within mandibles of sheep. A selection of dental implants was photographed and radiographed. They were then surgically placed in sheep mandibles and the entire sheep heads cremated in a commercial cremator. There was detachment of the dental implants from the mandible, which could have implications for scene recovery. Following retrieval and re-irradiating of the implants, image subtraction evaluation of the radiographs was recorded using Adobe(®) Photoshop. (®) As with the previous study there was slight oxidation of the implant surfaces leading to minor alteration of the images. There was, however, no gold crust colour change in the commercially pure titanium. Photography within the retrieved implants revealed the batch number within the Straumann™ implant was still visible, which could significantly add weight to the identification of deceased persons.
A Meta-Analytical Investigation of the Influence of Computer Assisted Instruction on Achievement in Science

This meta-analysis was performed to determine the overall effectiveness of computer assisted instruction on students’ academic achievement in science education from 2001 to 2007 in Turkey. The study reported the results of 65 effect sizes (ES) included in 52 studies. Grand mean for 65 ESs was found to be 1.12. This effect size can be interpreted as an average student’s achievement moved from the 50th percentile to the 87th percentile in science learning when computer assisted instruction was used. In addition, two variables (grade level of subjects and