Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Geodesic-based Surface Remeshing

Generation of surface meshes remains an active research problem despite the many publications addressing this topic. The main issues which must be treated by a good remeshing algorithm are: element quality, sizing control, approximation accuracy, robustness and efficiency. One reason surface meshing is such a challenging problem is the fact that using the Euclidean metric to measure distances between points on the surface can generate large discrepancies between the original surface and the constructed mesh. We solve this problem by using geodesic distances on the surface. The ability to accurately and efficiently compute geodesic distances, and propagate them across the mesh, permits us to generate quality surface meshes which closely approximate the input without using costly parameterization techniques.
Hardening mechanisms in olivine single crystal deformed at 1090 °C: an electron tomography study

Abstract The dislocation microstructures in a single crystal of olivine deformed experimentally in uniaxial compression at 1090 °C and under a confining pressure of 300 MPa, have been investigated by transmission electron tomography in order to better understand deformation mechanisms at the microscale relevant for lithospheric mantle deformations. Investigation by electron tomography reveals microstructures, which are more complex than previously described, composed of and dislocations commonly exhibiting 3D configurations. Numerous mechanisms such as climb, cross-slip, double cross-slip as well as interactions like junction formations and collinear annihilations are the source of this complexity. The diversity observed advocates for microscale deformation of olivine significantly less simple than classic dislocation creep reported in metals or ice close to melting temperature. Deciphering mechanism of hardening in olivine at temperatures where ionic diffusion is slow and is then expected to play very little role is crucial to better understand and thus model deformation at larger scale and at temperatures (900–1100 °C) highly relevant for the lithospheric mantle.
DENTAL services.

WHEN the Study was first projected, its content was a major theme of discussion. It is of interest that the Study Committee unanimously gave children's dental care a high priority among the items for examination. This decision was significant because pediatricians and general practitioners as a group are not particularly interested or wellinformed in this area of medicine. It may have been their very lack of dental knowledge which promoted this part of the Study. The question might be asked, "Is the over-all health of children correlated in any way with the condition of their teeth? " In one of the state reports, a correlation was made between the quality of medical services and dental facilities but this does not answer the question of the true relationship between dental health and over-all health. However, the Committee felt that dental health is generally accepted as an important item in a health program for children. Although the exact cause of tooth decay is not yet determined, it is known that restoration of cavities prolongs the life of the tooth. Areas of Need The findings of the Study do not tell precisely how much dental care is actually required by children in various sections and communities in the country. However, even without exact information on the amount of dental care needed, it is evident that at present not even a minimal amount of dental service can be offered to every child in the United States. The study of dental facilities for children shows that even states and counties which have the highest service ratings are unable to provide adequately for their entire child population.
Monitoring Partial and Full Venous Outflow Compromise in a Rabbit Skin Flap Model

Background: Free flap failure often results from venous thrombosis. The authors developed a rabbit flap model of partial venous obstruction and evaluated four monitoring devices in detecting partial and full venous compromise. Methods: Nine skin flaps were elevated on their arteriovenous pedicles in rabbits. The flap was assessed with quantitative Doppler of arterial inflow, transcutaneous oxygen and carbon dioxide tension, near-infrared spectroscopy tissue oxygen saturation, and scanning laser Doppler imaging. After a stable baseline was achieved, the outflow vein was subjected to partial and full venous obstruction followed by release. Results: Pedicle arterial flow decreased significantly from baseline (5.9 ± 3.0 ml/minute) during partial (4.1 ± 2.4 ml/minute; 30.5 percent; p < 0.01) and full obstruction (0.3 ± 0.4 ml/minute; 94.9 percent; p < 0.01). All other measures changed significantly with full obstruction: transcutaneous oxygen tension decreased by 79.6 percent; transcutaneous carbon dioxide tension increased by 69.0 percent; near-infrared spectroscopy tissue oxygen saturation decreased by 35.7 percent; and scanning laser Doppler imaging decreased by 78.8 percent. Laser Doppler imaging was the only noninvasive device that decreased significantly (p < 0.01) with partial obstruction, from 222.8 ± 77.3 units to 186.5 ± 73.2 units (16.3 percent). Conclusions: The authors established a venous obstruction flap model and evaluated four clinically relevant monitoring devices during partial and full venous occlusion. All devices detected full occlusion, but only scanning laser Doppler imaging and arterial Doppler detected partial occlusion. Scanning laser Doppler imaging monitoring may allow warning of impending venous obstruction. Near-infrared spectroscopy tissue oxygen saturation varied the least between flaps and therefore may be the most easily interpreted device for full venous occlusion. Both characteristics are important for clinical application.
Clinical effects of a nine-month web-based intervention in subacute non-specific low back pain patients: a randomized controlled trial

Objective: To test the clinical effect of a web-based lower back pain intervention on quality of life and selected lower back pain outcomes. Design: A prospective single-blinded randomized intervention. Setting: Occupational preventive service. Subjects: One hundred office workers with non-specific subacute lower back pain. Intervention: The 50 intervention group subjects were educated daily about sitting correctly and asked to perform exercises shown by video demonstrations on the university website. The exercise routines included strengthening, mobility and stretching exercises focused on the postural stability muscles. The 50 control group subjects only received standard occupational care. Measures: Outcomes were measured by the EuroQol questionnaire five dimensions three levels, the Oswestry Disability Index, and the StarT Back Screening Tool questionnaires. At nine months, the intervention group outcomes were compared to the baseline data and the control group outcomes. Results: For 97% (n = 45) of the experimental group quality of life (clinical utility) improved significantly; 3.58 times greater than the control group. Oswestry Disability Index showed an odds ratio (OR) of 5.42 with a 37% (n = 17) change for the intervention group with respect to the control group. With regard to the StarT Back Screening Tool, 76% (n = 35) of the intervention group improved their clinical state (odds ratio = 3.04 with respect to the control group improvement). Logistic regression analysis revealed positive changes in EuroQol questionnaire, increasing the likelihood of observing positive changes in StarT Back Screening Tool (OR = 15.5) and Oswestry Disability Index (OR = 4.5). Conclusions: The intervention showed clinical improvements in quality of life and selected lower back pain outcomes in the experimental group compared to the control group.
Evaluating the Performance of High Modulus Asphalt Concrete Mixture for Base Course in Iraq

In the 1980s, the French Administration Roads LCPC developed high modulus mixtures (EME) by using hard binder. This type of mixture presented good resistance to moisture damage and improved . mechanical properties for asphalt mixtures including high modulus, good fatigue behaviour and excellent resistance to rutting. In Iraq, this type of mixture has not been used yet. The main objective of this research is to evaluate the performance of high modulus mixtures and comparing them with the conventional mixture, to achieve this objective, asphalt concrete mixes were prepared and then tested to evaluate their engineering properties which include moisture damage, resilient modulus, permanent deformation and fatigue characteristics. These properties have been evaluated using indirect tensile strength, uniaxial repeated loading and repeated flexural beam tests. EME mixes were found to have improved fatigue and permanent deformation characteristics, also showed more resistance to moisture damage than conventional mix by 9.3 percent and the resilient modulusat temperature 60 oC increased by 63 percent. The general theme viewed from the results of this study has added to local knowledge the ability to produce more durable asphalt concrete mixtures with better serviceability using EME mixes.
Battery-Free Smart Sock for Abnormal Relative Plantar Pressure Monitoring

This paper presents a new design of a wearable plantar pressure monitoring system in the form of a smart sock for sensing abnormal relative pressure changes. One advantage of this approach is that with a battery-free design, this system can be powered solely by radio frequency (RF) energy harvested from a radio frequency identification (RFID) reader unit hosted on a smartphone of the wearer. At the same time, this RFID reader can read foot pressure values from an embedded sensor-tag in the sock. A pressure sensing matrix made of conductive fabric and flexible piezo-resistive material is integrated into the sock during the knitting process. Sensed foot pressures are digitized and stored in the memory of a sensor-tag, thus allowing relative foot pressure values to be tracked. The control unit of the smart sock is assembled on a flexible printed circuit board (FPC) that can be strapped to the lower limb and detached easily when it is not in use. Experiments show that the system can operate reliably in both tasks of RF energy harvesting and pressure measurement.
Hospital innovation portfolios: key determinants of size and innovativeness.

BACKGROUND Health care organizations face an increasing demand for strategic change and innovation; however, there are also several barriers to innovation that impede successful implementation. PURPOSES We aimed to shed light on key issues of innovation management in hospitals and provide empirical evidence for controlling the size and innovativeness of a hospital's new health service and process portfolio. We show how health care managers could align the need for exploration and exploitation by applying both informal (e.g., employee encouragement) and formal (e.g., analytical orientation and reward systems) organizational mechanisms. METHODOLOGY To develop hypotheses, we integrated the innovation management literature into the hospital context. Detailed information about the innovation portfolio of 87 German hospitals was generated and combined with multirespondent survey data using ratings from management, medical, and nursing directors. Multivariate regression analysis was applied. FINDINGS The empirical results showed that an analytical approach increased the size of innovation portfolios. Employee encouragement amplified the degree of innovativeness of activities in the portfolio. Reward systems did not have direct effects on the composition of innovation portfolios. However, they adjusted bottom-up employee and top-down strategic initiatives to match with the existing organization, thereby decreasing the degree of innovativeness and enforcing exploitation. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS Hospitals should intertwine employee encouragement, analytical approaches, and formal reward systems depending on organizational goals.
The MultiText retrieval system (demonstration abstract)

The ultimate aim of MultiText is to develop techniques to provide access by content for a significant fraction of all text available electronically. To this end we consider only algorithms and data structures that can be implemented efficiently on cheap commodity hardware, and that can be scaled without performance penalty to arbitrarily large collections by the mere addition of hardware. Our objectives oblige us to consider in addition the issues of multiple concurrent users, on-line update, continuous availability, and distributed data. The data model for MultiText is unique in that the collection is not divided a priori into units such as documents, paragraphs, sentences, or lines. Rather, the text is organized as a linear stream of words, and structural components like those named above are delimited by markup symbols [2]. As far as the retrieval system is concerned, markup symbols are simply words and may be used as such in a query. An important aspect of this data organization is that the system imposes no particular schema on the data data with many different formats can be stored, searched, and retrieved within the same collection [3]. Queries in MultiText are satisfied by substrings or passages within the document, rather than by documents, paragraphs, lines, etc., which have no particular meaning to the system. Specifically, the system finds the shortest passages that satisfy a particular query. That is, a passage is returned only if it satisfies the query and does not contain a shorter passage that also satisfies the query. This approach can be considered to yield the most general solution to the query [l]. The MultiText query language, GCL, expresses boolean queries as well as containment relationships (contained in, containing, not contained in, and not containing). For example, one could express directly in GCL the query: Find the titles of documents containing all of “Cormack”, “Clarke”“, “Palmer” and “Good” in the author field. Classical information retrieval is effected in MultiText using a few search terms and the ranking technique Cover Density Ranking [4]. The objective here is to find the documents most likely relevant to the user’s information need as expressed by the search terms. To this end we order the documents in the following way: First, documents contain-
Improved proteome analysis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae mitochondria by free‐flow electrophoresis

The analysis of complex cellular proteomes by means of two‐dimensional gel electrophoresis (2‐DE) is significantly limited by the power of resolution of this technique. Although subcellular fractionation can be a fundamental first step to increase resolution, it frequently leads to preparations contaminated with other cellular structures. Here, we chose mitochondria of Saccharomyces cerevisiae to demonstrate that an integrated zone‐electrophoretic purification step (ZE), with a free‐flow electrophoresis device (FFE), can assist in overcoming this problem, while significantly improving their degree of purity. Whereas mitochondrial preparations isolated by means of differential centrifugation include a considerable degree of non‐mitochondrial proteins (16%), this contamination could be effectually removed by the inclusion of a ZE‐FFE purification step (2%). This higher degree of purity led to the identification of many more proteins from ZE‐FFE purified mitochondrial protein extracts (n = 129), compared to mitochondrial protein extracts isolated by differential centrifugation (n = 80). Moreover, a marked decrease of degraded proteins was found in the ZE‐FFE purified mitochondrial protein extracts. It is noteworthy that even at a low 2‐DE resolution level, a four‐fold higher number (17 versus 4) of presumably low abundance proteins could be identified in the ZE‐FFE purified mitochondrial protein extracts. Therefore these results represent a feasible approach for an in‐depth proteome analysis of mitochondria and possibly other organelles.
Visio-articulatory to acoustic conversion of speech

In this paper we evaluate the performance of combined visual and articulatory features for the conversion to acoustic speech. Such a conversion has possible applications in silent speech interfaces, which are based on the processing of non-acoustic speech signals. With an intelligibility test we show that the usage of joint visual and articulatory features can improve the reconstruction of acoustic speech compared to using only articulatory or visual data. An improvement can be achieved when using the original or using no voicing information.
Replication termination for staphylococcal plasmids: plasmids pT181 and pC221 cross-react in the termination process

We present data which indicate that (i) the origin of replication of plasmids pT181 and pC221 can also function as termination signals; (ii) termination of replication occurs when a round of replication initiated either by RepC at the pT181 origin or by RepD at the pC221 origin reaches either of these origins, proving that the two plasmids cross-react for termination of replication; and (iii) the replication initiated at the origin of another staphylococcal plasmid, pE194, does not terminate at the origin of pT181 or pC221, indicating the existence of a specific relationship between the initiation and termination of a replication event.
Social protection and the formation of skills: a reinterpretation of the welfare state

This paper outlines a new approach to the study of the welfare state. Contrary to the emphasis on “decommmodification” in the current literature, we argue that important dimensions of the welfare state – employment protection, unemployment protection, and wage protection – are designed to make workers more willing to invest in firmand industry-specific skills that increase their dependence on particular employers and their vulnerability to market fluctuations. Workers will only make such risky investments when they have some insurance that their job or income is secure. Otherwise, they will invest in general, and therefore portable, skills. In turn, because the skill composition of the work force constrains the set of product market strategies that firms can pursue successfully, employers will support social protection that facilitates the set of skills they need to be competitive in particular international product markets. We show that our argument is consistent with observed clusters of social protection and skill profiles among OECD countries, and that these clusters are associated with very different distributional outcomes and patterns of gender-specific labor market segmentation.
Substituting Potassium Iodide for Methimazole as the Treatment for Graves' Disease During the First Trimester May Reduce the Incidence of Congenital Anomalies: A Retrospective Study at a Single Medical Institution in Japan.

BACKGROUND To control hyperthyroidism due to Graves' disease, antithyroid drugs should be administered. Several studies have shown that exposure to methimazole (MMI) during the first trimester of pregnancy increases the incidence of specific congenital anomalies that are collectively referred to as MMI embryopathy. Congenital anomalies associated with exposure to propylthiouracil (PTU) have also recently been reported. METHODS This study investigated whether substituting potassium iodide (KI) for MMI in the first trimester would result in a lower incidence of major congenital anomalies than continuing treatment with MMI alone. The cases of 283 women with Graves' disease (GD) were reviewed whose treatment was switched from MMI to KI in the first trimester (iodine group), as well as the cases of 1333 patients treated with MMI alone (MMI group) for comparison. Another major outcome of interest was the incidence of neonatal thyroid dysfunction. The subjects of the analysis of major congenital anomalies and neonatal thyroid dysfunction were live-born infants. RESULTS The incidence of major anomalies was 4/260 (1.53%) in the iodine group, which was significantly lower than the incidence of 47/1134 (4.14%) in the MMI group. Two neonates in the iodine group had anomalies consistent with MMI embryopathy (0.8%), as opposed to 18 neonates in the MMI group (1.6%). None of the neonates exposed to KI had thyroid dysfunction or goiter. CONCLUSIONS Substituting KI for MMI as a means of controlling hyperthyroidism in GD patients during the first trimester may reduce the incidence of congenital anomalies, at least in iodine-sufficient regions.
Theory of the Snowflake Plot and Its Relations to Higher-Order Analysis Methods

The snowflake plot is a scatter plot that displays relative timings of three neurons. It has had rather limited use since its introduction by Perkel, Gerstein, Smith, and Tatton (1975), in part because its triangular coordinates are unfamiliar and its theoretical properties are not well studied. In this letter, we study certain quantitative properties of this plot: we use projections to relate the snowflake plot to the cross-correlation histogram and the spike-triggered joint histogram, study the sampling properties of the plot for the null case of independent spike trains, study a simulation of a coincidence detector, and describe the extension of this plot to more than three neurons.
Induction of Pluripotency in Astrocytes through a Neural Stem Cell-like State*

It remains controversial whether the routes from somatic cells to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are related to the reverse order of normal developmental processes. Specifically, it remains unaddressed whether or not the differentiated cells become iPSCs through their original tissue stem cell-like state. Previous studies analyzing the reprogramming process mostly used fibroblasts; however, the stem cell characteristics of fibroblasts made it difficult to address this. Here, we generated iPSCs from mouse astrocytes, a type of glial cells, by three (OCT3/4, KLF4, and SOX2), two (OCT3/4 and KLF4), or four (OCT3/4, KLF4, and SOX2 plus c-MYC) factors. Sox1, a neural stem cell (NSC)-specific transcription factor, is transiently up-regulated during reprogramming, and Sox1-positive cells become iPSCs. The up-regulation of Sox1 is essential for OCT3/4- and KLF4-induced reprogramming. Genome-wide analysis revealed that the gene expression profile of Sox1-expressing intermediate-state cells resembles that of NSCs. Furthermore, the intermediate-state cells are able to generate neurospheres, which can differentiate into both neurons and glial cells. Remarkably, during fibroblast reprogramming, neither Sox1 up-regulation nor an increase in neurogenic potential occurs. Our results thus demonstrate that astrocytes are reprogrammed through an NSC-like state.