Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Mécanismes d'enlèvement de particules par laser impulsionnel : application au nettoyage pour la microélectronique

Le developpement des nanotechnologies necessite, entre autre, d'utiliser de nouvelles techniques de nettoyage permettant l'enlevement sans contact de particules de tailles nanometriques. Le procede laser consistant a irradier les materiaux avec des impulsions nanosecondes se revele une approche prometteuse. Cette etude participe a l'amelioration des connaissances des processus d'interaction "laser-particule-surface". Les experiences demontrent que l'enlevement resulte d'une competition entre differents mecanismes. L'evaporation explosive de l'humidite residuelle piegee au voisinage des polluants est identifiee comme le mecanisme non-destructif principal. Parmi les mecanismes d'endommagement observes, l'ablation locale du substrat resultant des phenomenes d'exaltation de champ proche optique limite la fenetre de travail du procede de nettoyage. Cependant, ce processus presente un interet pour d'autres applications telles que la nanostructuration de surfaces.
The Survival Filter: Joint Survival Analysis with a Latent Time Series

Survival analysis is a core task in applied statistics, which models time-to-failure or time-to-event data. In the clinical domain, for example, meaningful events are defined as the onset of different diseases for a given patient. Survival analysis is limited, however, for analyzing modern electronic health records. Patients often have a wide range of diseases, and there are complex interactions among the relative risks of different events. To this end, we develop the survival filter model, a time-series model for joint survival analysis that models multiple patients and multiple diseases. We develop a scalable variational inference algorithm and apply our method to a large data set of longitudinal patient records. The survival filter gives good predictive performance when compared to two baselines and identifies clinically meaningful patterns of disease interaction.
Big Cats Return to Majete Wildlife Reserve, Malawi: Evaluating Reintroduction Success

Large carnivores are frequently reintroduced into protected areas to compensate for anthropogenic-driven losses. The lack of post-release monitoring has impeded our knowledge on how these carnivores adapt to their new environment, which often results in uncertainty of whether or not reintroductions were successful. Between 2011 and 2012, six leopards (Panthera pardus) and three lions (Panthera leo) were reintroduced into Majete Wildlife Reserve, Malawi, and each animal was fitted with a GPS or VHF collar to monitor their post-release movements and behaviour. All individuals survived longer than two and a half years post-release and successful breeding events were recorded for all females, except one leopard. Released felids showed little initial exploratory behaviour, none homed to their capture location and all individuals displayed at least some degree of release site fidelity. Lions established permanent ranges between five and seven months after release, with a mean home range of 82.1km2 (95%, T-LoCoH). Three leopards established permanent ranges between four and eight months, with a mean home range of 181.6 km2 (95%; T-LoCoH). Two leopards did not establish fixed home ranges, but rather exhibited continuous shifts in range which were likely due to natural disruptive events such as season, prey availability and other competitors. Our findings suggest that reintroduced felids may take longer to establish permanent home ranges than previously thought, highlighting the importance of long-term post-release monitoring. Based on our study, reintroduction appears to be an effective and viable tool to restore large carnivores in protected areas in Malawi.
Implementation and Analysis of AES Encryption on GPU

GPU is continuing its trend of vastly outperforming CPU while becoming more general purpose. In order to improve the efficiency of AES algorithm, this paper proposed a CUDA implementation of Electronic Codebook (ECB) mode encoding process and Cipher Feedback (CBC) mode decoding process on GPU. In our implementation, the frequently accessed T-boxes were allocated on on-chip shared memory and the granularity that one thread handles a 16 Bytes AES block was adopted. Finally, we achieved the highest performance of around 60 Gbps throughput on NVIDIA Tesla C2050 GPU, which runs up to 50 times faster than a sequential implementation based on Intel Core i7-920 2.66GHz CPU. In addition, we discussed the optimization under some practical application scenarios such as overlapping GPU processing and data transfer.
A Particle Filter Based Non-Rigid Contour Tracking Algorithm with Regulation paper ID : 1470

This paper presents an active contour tracking algorithm based on the particle filter for a non-rigid object in cluttered scenes. We decompose the non-rigid contour tracking problem into three parts as transition estimation, deformation detection, and shape regulation. We use an affine transform dynamic model and employ the particle filter to estimate the parameters. We generate a probabilistic map of deformation for reshaping the object contour, followed by a projection step to constrain the contour in a shape subspace. Our experiments show that the proposed algorithm significantly improves the performance of non-rigid contour tracking, especially when the background scene is heavily cluttered.
The Importance of Integrating Clinical Relevance and Statistical Significance in the Assessment of Quality of Care –Illustrated Using the Swedish Stroke Register

Background When profiling hospital performance, quality inicators are commonly evaluated through hospital-specific adjusted means with confidence intervals. When identifying deviations from a norm, large hospitals can have statistically significant results even for clinically irrelevant deviations while important deviations in small hospitals can remain undiscovered. We have used data from the Swedish Stroke Register (Riksstroke) to illustrate the properties of a benchmarking method that integrates considerations of both clinical relevance and level of statistical significance. Methods The performance measure used was case-mix adjusted risk of death or dependency in activities of daily living within 3 months after stroke. A hospital was labeled as having outlying performance if its case-mix adjusted risk exceeded a benchmark value with a specified statistical confidence level. The benchmark was expressed relative to the population risk and should reflect the clinically relevant deviation that is to be detected. A simulation study based on Riksstroke patient data from 2008–2009 was performed to investigate the effect of the choice of the statistical confidence level and benchmark value on the diagnostic properties of the method. Results Simulations were based on 18,309 patients in 76 hospitals. The widely used setting, comparing 95% confidence intervals to the national average, resulted in low sensitivity (0.252) and high specificity (0.991). There were large variations in sensitivity and specificity for different requirements of statistical confidence. Lowering statistical confidence improved sensitivity with a relatively smaller loss of specificity. Variations due to different benchmark values were smaller, especially for sensitivity. This allows the choice of a clinically relevant benchmark to be driven by clinical factors without major concerns about sufficiently reliable evidence. Conclusions The study emphasizes the importance of combining clinical relevance and level of statistical confidence when profiling hospital performance. To guide the decision process a web-based tool that gives ROC-curves for different scenarios is provided.
150 Digit. Integrating 3D Visit and Social Functions into a Web 3.0 Learning-Oriented Approach

This paper is about the 150 Digit project, a web 2.0 portal designed for the publicity and dissemination of the exhibitions set up for the celebration of the 150 years of Italian unity. Targeted at schools, 150 Digit encourages the active participation of the users to the classification (in terms of tagging) of the exhibition contents and to the creation of new contents. The social components of the portal are leveraged by a semantic layer, which recommends the users with new tags, thus inducing new connections over the exhibits. Content items are recommended as well using both the same semantic strategy and collaborative filtering approaches. As part of the user involvement, 150 Digit features a 3D visit of the exhibitions, where the users can navigate the reconstruction of the exhibitions through a specifically developed web-plugin.
Crustal strain rates of southeastern Tibetan Plateau derived from GPS measurements and implications to lithospheric deformation of the Shan‐Thai terrane

The link between the crustal deformation and mantle kinematics in the Tibetan Plateau has been well known thanks to dense GPS measurements and the relatively detailed anisotropy structure of the lithospheric mantle. However, whether the crust deforms coherently with the upper mantle in the Shan‐Thai terrane (also known as the Shan‐Thai block) remains unclear. In this study, we investigate the deformation patterns through strain rate tensors in the southeastern Tibetan Plateau derived from the latest GPS measurements and find that in the Shan‐Thai terrane the upper crust may be coupled with the lower crust and the upper mantle. The GPS‐derived strain rate tensors are in agreement with the slipping patterns and rates of major strike‐slip faults in the region. The most prominent shear zone, whose shear strain rates are larger than 100×10–9 a–1, is about 1000‐km‐long in the west, trending northward along Sagaing fault to the Eastern Himalayan Syntaxis in the north, with maximum rate of compressive strain up to –240×10–9 a–1. A secondary shear zone along the Anninghe‐Xiaojiang Fault in the east shows segmented shear zones near several conjunctions. While the strain rate along RRF is relatively low due to the low slip rate and low seismicity there, in Lijiang and Tengchong several local shear zones are present under an extensional dominated stress regime that is related to normal faulting earthquakes and volcanism, respectively. Furthermore, by comparing GPS‐derived strain rate tensors with earthquake focal mechanisms, we find that 75.8% (100 out of 132) of the earthquake T‐axes are consistent with the GPS‐derived strain rates. Moreover, we find that the Fast Velocity Direction (FVDs) at three depths beneath the Shan‐Thai terrane are consistent with extensional strain rate with gradually increasing angular differences, which are likely resulting from the basal shear forces induced by asthenospheric flow associated with the oblique subduction of the India plate beneath the Shan‐Thai terrane. Therefore, in this region the upper crust deformation may be coherent with that of the lower crust and the lithospheric mantle.
Pharmacological treatments for psychosis-related polydipsia.

BACKGROUND Polydipsia is the intake of more than three litres of fluids per day. Primary polydipsia occurs when excessive drinking cannot be explained by an identified medical condition, and is not secondary to polyuria. The prevalence of this problem in psychiatric inpatients has been estimated at between 6 and 17%. It can hinder standard care and be a highly disabling, even life-threatening condition. OBJECTIVES To review the effect of pharmacological interventions for the treatment of psychosis-related polydipsia. SEARCH STRATEGY The reviewers searched the Cochrane Schizophrenia Group's Register (January 2002) which is compiled by up-to-date methodical searches of BIOSIS, The Cochrane Library, CINAHL, Dissertation abstracts, EMBASE, LILACS, MEDLINE, PSYNDEX, PsycINFO, RUSSMED and Sociofile and is supplemented with hand searching of relevant journals and numerous conference proceedings. References of all identified studies were also searched for further trials. SELECTION CRITERIA All randomised controlled trials involving people with a psychotic illness and secondary polydipsia, which evaluated drug treatments, and measured clinically meaningful outcomes. DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS Reviewers, working independently, inspected citations, ordered papers, and then re-inspected and quality assessed the studies. They also worked independently to extract data. For homogeneous dichotomous data, the relative risk (RR), 95% confidence interval (CI), and, where appropriate, the number needed to treat (NNT) and the number needed to harm (NNH), were calculated on an intention-to-treat basis. Reviewers assumed that people who left the study early or were lost to follow-up had no improvement. Weighted mean differences (WMD) were calculated for continuous data. Data was excluded if loss to follow-up was greater than 50%. MAIN RESULTS The reviewers identified two trials which fulfilled the inclusion criteria, (total n=17, duration 3-6 weeks). Few data were reported and, because of inappropriate use of crossover methodology, it could not all be used in this review. For the few chronically ill people in these trials, neither the 'active' tetracycline bacteriostatic agent, oral demeclocycline, nor the opiate antagonist naloxone, nor placebo, gave any suggestion of serious adverse effects for a period of up to six weeks. The two small studies did not report any useful data on measures of polydipsia, physical symptoms secondary to increased fluid intake, mental state, general functioning or economic outcomes. REVIEWER'S CONCLUSIONS The trials offer little to the clinician hoping to treat psychosis-related polydipsia with drugs, except that further evaluative studies need to be conducted in this area. Treatment of any sort for psychosis related polydipsia might only be informative within a well designed, conducted and reported randomised study. The two pioneering studies suggest that larger trials, though difficult, would not be impossible with adequate support and co-ordination.
WebTrack: Mining and Tracking Content and Structure of Websites

The production of thermoplastics by polymerization of olefins in the presence of light metal non-ferrous metal or alloys thereof by means of a heterogenous Ziegler-Natta catalyst is taught. Preferably, the polyolefin is crosslinked in regions thereof adjacent the metal particles. The product resins can be employed either alone or as a component of a polyblend with other polymers for the purpose of achieving heat removal with simultaneous electrical insulation in electronic and electrical engineering applications.
Integrated polarization analyzing CMOS Image sensor for autonomus navigation using polarized light

Navigation is important both for insects to perform living tasks and robots to perform assigned tasks. We propose a CMOS image sensor for autonomous agent navigation which mimicks the navigational patterns of insects using the variations in the degree of skylight polarization. The polarization pattern of the skylight varies in a systematic way both in the plane (e-vector) and the degree of polarization according to the sun's position. The proposed CMOS image sensor is able to sense polarization information in real time using a metallic wire grid micro-polarizer oriented in various directions on top of the pixel. The degree of polarization is computed from the sensed polarization information, the variations of which can be used as a compass. The image sensor consist of an array of 128×128 pixels, occupies an area of 5×4mm2 and it has been designed and fabricated in a 180nm CMOS process.
Identification and molecular characterization of oat peptides implicated on coeliac immune response

Background Oats provide important nutritional and pharmacological properties, although their safety in coeliac patients remains controversial. Previous studies have confirmed that the reactivity of the anti-33-mer monoclonal antibody with different oat varieties is proportional to the immune responses in terms of T-cell proliferation. Although the impact of these varieties on the adaptive response has been studied, the role of the dendritic cells (DC) is still poorly understood. The aim of this study is to characterize different oat fractions and to study their effect on DC from coeliac patients. Methods and results Protein fractions were isolated from oat grains and analyzed by SDS–PAGE. Several proteins were characterized in the prolamin fraction using immunological and proteomic tools, and by Nano-LC-MS/MS. These proteins, analogous to α- and γ-gliadin-like, showed reactive sequences to anti-33-mer antibody suggesting their immunogenic potential. That was further confirmed as some of the newly identified oat peptides had a differential stimulatory capacity on circulating DC from coeliac patients compared with healthy controls. Conclusions This is the first time, to our knowledge, where newly identified oat peptides have been shown to elicit a differential stimulatory capacity on circulating DC obtained from coeliac patients, potentially identifying immunogenic properties of these oat peptides.
Improved Laboratory Transition Probabilities for Pt I and Application to the Platinum Abundances of BD +17°3248 and the Sun

Radiative lifetimes, accurate to ±5%, have been measured for 58 odd-parity levels of Pt I using laser-induced fluorescence. The lifetimes were combined with branching fractions measured using grating and Fourier transform spectrometry to determine transition probabilities for 127 lines of Pt I. The new Pt lifetime measurements were found to be in good agreement with previous but less extensive measurements based on laser-induced fluorescence. The new branching fraction measurements were found to be in fair agreement with one earlier study. Absolute atomic transition probabilities from the new measurements were used to determine the platinum abundance in the metal-poor Galactic halo star BD +17°3248. An attempt to refine the solar photospheric abundance of platinum was unsuccessful; the single Pt I line used in an earlier abundance determination was found to be even more severely blended than expected from earlier work.
PROMOTIF—A program to identify and analyze structural motifs in proteins

We describe a suite of programs, PROMOTIF, that analyzes a protein coordinate file and provides details about the structural motifs in the protein. The program currently analyzes the following structural features: secondary structure; β‐ and γ‐turns; helical geometry and interactions; β‐strands and β‐sheet topology; β‐bulges; β‐hairpins; β‐α‐β units and Ψ‐loops; disulphide bridges; and main‐chain hydrogen bonding patterns. PROMOTIF creates postscript files showing the examples of each type of motif in the protein, and a summary page. The program can also be used to compare motifs in a group of related structures, such as an ensemble of NMR structures.
Dijkstra's algorithm on-line: an empirical case study from public railroad transport

Traffic information systems are among the most prominent real-world applications of Dijkstra's algorithm for shortest paths. We consider the scenario of a central information server in the realm of public railroad transport on wide-area networks. Such a system has to process a large number of on-line queries for optimal travel connections in real time. In practice, this problem is usually solved by heuristic variations of Dijkstra's algorithm, which do not guarantee an optimal result. We report results from a pilot study, in which we focused on the travel time as the only optimization criterion. In this study, various speed-up techniques for Dijkstra's algorithm were analysed empirically. This analysis was based on the timetable data of all German trains and on a "snapshot" of half a million customer queries.
Hyposmia and executive dysfunction as predictors of future Parkinson's disease: A prospective study

Olfactory deficits and executive dysfunction are early and common symptoms in Parkinson's disease (PD). Previous studies have shown that hyposmia can be a first sign of PD. The aim of the present study was to determine which of three olfactory tests and two selected tests of executive function would be the best predictor of future PD over a 5 year period. In a cohort of 361 nonparkinsonian, nondemented first‐degree relatives of PD patients, in whom alternative causes of olfactory dysfunction were excluded, we measured baseline performance on three olfactory and two executive function tasks. Five years from baseline, clinical neurological evaluation and/or a screening questionnaire, sensitive to the presence of Parkinsonism, were used to detect individuals developing clinical PD. Our results show that in first degree relatives of PD patients worse performance on each of three olfactory processing tasks was associated with an increased risk of developing PD within 5 years, whereas performance on selected tests of executive dysfunction was not associated with an increased risk of developing PD. Interestingly, impaired odor discrimination was the best predictor for future PD. © 2009 Movement Disorder Society
Psychological distress and its effect on tuberculosis treatment outcomes in Ethiopia

Background Psychological distress is the major comorbidity among tuberculosis (TB) patients. However, its magnitude, associated factors, and effect on treatment outcome have not been adequately studied in low-income countries. Objective This study aimed to determine the magnitude of psychological distress and its effect on treatment outcome among TB patients on treatment. Design A follow-up study was conducted in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from May to December 2014. Patients (N=330) diagnosed with all types of TB who had been on treatment for 1–2 months were enrolled consecutively from 15 randomly selected health centers and one TB specialized hospital. Data on sociodemographic variables and economic status were collected using a structured questionnaire. The presence of psychological distress was assessed at baseline (within 1–2 months after treatment initiation) and end point (6 months after treatment initiation) using the 10-item Kessler (K-10) scale. Alcohol use and tobacco smoking history were assessed using WHO Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test and Australian Smoking Assessment Checklist, respectively. The current WHO TB treatment outcome definition was used to differentiate the end result of each patient at completion of the treatment. Results The overall psychological distress was 67.6% at 1–2 months and 48.5% at 6 months after treatment initiation. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that past TB treatment history [adjusted odds ratio (AOR): 3.76; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.67–8.45], being on anti-TB and anti-HIV treatments (AOR: 5.35; 95% CI: 1.83–15.65), being unmarried (AOR: 4.29; 95% CI: 2.45–7.53), having alcohol use disorder (AOR: 2.95; 95% CI: 1.25–6.99), and having low economic status (AOR: 4.41; 95% CI: 2.44–7.97) were significantly associated with psychological distress at baseline. However, at 6 months after treatment initiation, only being a multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) patient (AOR: 3.02; 95% CI: 1.17–7.75) and having low economic status (AOR: 3.75; 95% CI: 2.08–6.74) were able to predict psychological distress significantly. Past TB treatment history (AOR: 2.13; 95% CI: 1.10–4.12), employment status (AOR: 2.06; 95% CI: 1.06–7.00), and existence of psychological distress symptoms at 6 months after treatment initiation (AOR: 2.87; 95% CI: 1.05–7.81) were found to be associated with treatment outcome. Conclusions The overall magnitude of psychological distress was high across the follow-up period; this was more pronounced at baseline. At baseline, past TB treatment history, being on anti-TB and anti-HIV treatments, being unmarried, and having symptoms of alcohol use disorder were associated with psychological distress. However, both at baseline and end point, low economic status was associated with psychological distress. Screening and treatment of psychological distress among TB patients across the whole treatment period is needed, and focusing more on patients who have been economically deprived, previously treated for TB, and on MDR-TB treatment are important.