Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
AUTOMATIC REGISTRATION OF LASER SCANNED COLOR POINT CLOUDS BASED ON COMMON FEATURE EXTRACTION

Point cloud data acquisition with laser scanners provides an effective way for 3D as-built modeling of a construction site. Due to the limited view of a scan, multiple scans are required to cover the whole scene, and a registration process is needed to merge them together. The aim of this paper is to introduce a novel method that automatically registers colored 3D point cloud sets without using targets or any other manual alignment processes. For fully automated point cloud registration without artificial targets or landmarks, this study uses 1) the SpeededUp Robust Features (SURF) algorithm to identify geometric features among the series of scans and 2) plane-toplane matching algorithm to achieve precise registration. For an initial alignment during the registration process, common feature extraction is utilized to perform a 3D rigid-body transformation followed by aligning the view into the reference system. Further alignment is obtained using plane segmentation and matching from the 3D point clouds. The test outcomes show that the method is able to achieve registration accuracy of less than 1o in deviation angle.
Research, part of a Special Feature on A Systems Approach for Sustainable Development in Coastal Zones Mussel Production and Water Framework Directive Targets in the Limfjord, Denmark: an Integrated Assessment for Use in System-Based Management

Growth of human activities often conflict with nature conservation requirements and integrated assessments are necessary to build reliable scenarios for management. In the Limfjord, Denmark's largest estuary, nutrient loading reductions are necessary to fulfill EU regulations criteria, such as the Water Framework Directive (WFD). Cuts in nutrient loadings do not necessarily result in corresponding reductions in eutrophication impacts or in improving primary and higher trophic-level production. Similarly, the socioeconomic consequences of a mussel fishery and aquaculture production are complex and hard to predict. This study focuses on the usefulness of a System Approach Framework (SAF) implementation for stakeholder understanding of complex systems and development of sustainable management. Ecological-social-economic (ESE) model simulations clearly demonstrated the potential problems of WFD implementation for mussel fishers and mussel farmers. Simulation of mussel fishery closures resulted in a tenfold increase in the hitherto fishable mussel biomass and a similar decrease in the biomass of shallow-water mussels and medium-sized ones in deep water. A total closure of the mussel fishery could result in an annual profit loss of ~€6.2 million. Scenario simulation of the introduction of one, two, three, and four mussel culture farms of ~19 ha showed that the introduction of line-mussels would decrease the biomass of wild mussels both in shallow and deep waters, affecting the catch and profit of fishers. The SAF, which included consultation with stakeholders at all stages, differs from the traditional public consultation process in that (1) communication was verbal and multilateral, (2) discussion among stakeholders was facilitated, and (3) stakeholder opinions and priorities formed the focus of the ESE assessment.
JAK 2 p . V 617 F mutation – tetra-primer PCR and PCR-RFLP comparative semiquantitative approaches for estimation of the mutant allele in myeloproliferative neoplasms

Polycythemia vera, essential thrombocythemia and pr imary myelofibrosis are the three typical BCRABL negative myeloproliferative neoplasms. Recent s tudies indicated that a somatic single-point mutati on, JAK2 p.V617F is a crucial molecular event in the pathoge nesis of these diseases. Taking into consideration the importance of this mutation as a diagnosis and prognosis marker, we adapted in our laboratory a tetra-primer polymerase chain reaction (tetra-primer PCR) and a poly merase chain reaction-restriction fragments length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) previously described assays for detection of JAK2 p.V617F. Meanwhile, we built a d ilution based scale of mutant p.V617F homozygous DNA i n wild-type homozygous DNA which serves for a semiquantitative estimation of the mutant allele propor tion. Both techniques were shown to be similar sensitive: h lower detection limit of mutant allele was around 2 % (tetra-primer PCR) and around 3% (PCR-RFLP); howe ver the tetra-primer PCR has the advantage over the PCR -RFLP of being a more rapid assay. We succesufully managed to implement tetra-primer PCR and PCR-RFLP ass ays for JAK2 p.V617F analysis and to provide meanwhile semiquantitative approaches for estimation of the mutant allele in myeloproliferative neoplasms.
Ascorbic acid increases the severity of spontaneous knee osteoarthritis in a guinea pig model.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether ascorbic acid might be of benefit for the treatment of spontaneous osteoarthritis (OA) when administered over a long period of time. METHODS We investigated the effects of 8 months' exposure to low, medium, and high doses of ascorbic acid on the in vivo development of histologic knee OA in the male Hartley guinea pig. The low dose represented the minimum amount needed to prevent scurvy. The medium dose was the amount present in standard laboratory guinea pig chow and resulted in plasma levels comparable with those achieved in a person consuming 200 mg/day (5 fruits and vegetables daily). The high dose was the amount shown in a previous study of the guinea pig to slow the progression of surgically induced OA. RESULTS We found an association between ascorbic acid supplementation and increased cartilage collagen content but, in contrast to findings in a previous study of surgically induced OA in the guinea pig, ascorbic acid worsened the severity of spontaneous OA. Active transforming growth factor beta (TGF beta) was expressed in marginal osteophytes, whose size and number were significantly increased with increasing intake of ascorbic acid. Synovial fluid levels of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein, a biomarker of cartilage turnover, corroborated the histologic findings. CONCLUSION Ascorbic acid has been shown to activate latent TGF beta. Prolonged intraarticular exposure to TGF beta has been shown to cause OA-like changes. We found expression of active TGF beta in osteophytes, a prominent feature of the joint histology seen in association with ascorbic acid treatment. Thus, the deleterious effects of prolonged ascorbic acid exposure may be mediated in part by TGF beta. This worsening of OA with ascorbic acid supplementation suggests that ascorbic acid intake should not be supplemented above the currently recommended dietary allowance (90 mg/day for men and 75 mg/day for women).
Les analyseurs syntaxiques : atouts pour une analyse des questions dans un système de question-réponse ?

Cet article montre que pour une application telle qu’un système de question – réponse, une analyse par mots clés de la question est insuffisante et qu’une analyse plus détaillée passant par une analyse syntaxique permet de fournir des caractéristiques permettant une meilleure recherche de la réponse.
Experimenting an Embedded-sensor Network for Early Warning of Natural Risks Due to Fast Failures along Railways

This paper deals with a project for real-time monitoring of railway tracks to detect events, such as fast failures from natural risks, which may threaten the transit of trains. The paper describes a network of smart sensors for early warning of these endangering events. Three main types of fast-failure events involving railways were identified: sinkhole, rock and debris falls. A case study on a known test site and experimentation with various scenarios were carried out with a view to developing algorithms capable of spotting and localising them. Results demonstrate the good performance of the network in monitoring the investigated events.
Rethinking Other Minds: Wittgenstein and Levinas on Expression

One reason why the problem of other minds keeps cropping up in modern philosophy is that we seem to have conflicting intuitions about our access to the mental lives of others. On the one hand, we are inclined to think that it is wrong to claim, like Cartesian dualists must, that the minds of others are essentially inaccessible to direct experience. But on the other hand we feel that it is equally wrong to claim, like the behaviorists, that the mental lives of others are completely accessible to an outside spectator. This paper attempts to address the problem of the accessibility of other minds while staying faithful to both these intuitions. Central to this undertaking is the idea that we express our mental lives in our bodily behavior. With a firm grasp of the notion of expression, as it is developed in the writings of Wittgenstein and Levinas, we can understand how other minds can be directly perceivable and yet retain a certain inaccessibility. The key is to emphasize the difference between the expressive appearance of a human being and the way an object appears in perception.
Subdomains in the F and G helices of bacteriorhodopsin regulate the conformational transitions of the reprotonation mechanism

We have performed cysteine scanning mutagenesis of the bacteriorhodopsin mutant D85N to explore the role of individual amino acids in the conformational transitions of the reprotonation mechanism. We have used whole‐cell reflectance spectroscopy to evaluate the spectral properties of the 59 mutants generated during a scan of the entire F and G helices and the intervening loop region. Cys mutants were grouped into one of six phenotypes based on the spectral changes associated with their M ↔ N ↔ O intermediate‐state transitions. Mutations that produced similar phenotypes were found to cluster in discrete molecular domains and indicate that M, N, and O possess distinct structures and that unique molecular interactions regulate the transitions between them. The distribution of these domains suggests that 1) the extramembranous loop region is involved in the stabilization of the N and M intermediates, 2) lipid‐protein interactions play a key role in the accumulation of N, and 3) the amino acid side‐chain interactions in the extracellular portion of the interface between helices G and A participate in the accumulation of M. Proteins 2002;48:269–282. © 2002 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Host- and Tissue-Specific Pathogenic Traits of Staphylococcus aureus

ABSTRACT Comparative genomics were used to assess genetic differences between Staphylococcus aureus strains derived from infected animals versus colonized or infected humans. A total of 77 veterinary isolates were genetically characterized by high-throughput amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP). Bacterial genotypes were introduced in a large AFLP database containing similar information for 1,056 human S. aureus strains. All S. aureus strains isolated from animals in close contact with humans (e.g., pet animals) were predominantly classified in one of the five main clusters of the AFLP database (cluster I). In essence, mastitis-associated strains from animals were categorized separately (cluster IVa) and cosegregated with bacteremia-associated strains from humans. Distribution of only 2 out of 10 different virulence genes differed across the clusters. The gene encoding the toxic shock syndrome protein (tst) was more often encountered among veterinary strains (P < 0.0001) and even more in the mastitis-related strains (P<0.0001) compared to human isolate results. The gene encoding the collagen binding protein (cna) was rarely detected among invasive human strains. The virulence potential, as indicated by the number of virulence genes per strain, did not differ significantly between the human- and animal-related strains. Our data show that invasive infections in pets and humans are usually due to S. aureus strains with the same genetic background. Mastitis-associated S. aureus isolated in diverse farm animal species form a distinct genetic cluster, characterized by an overrepresentation of the toxic shock syndrome toxin superantigen-encoding gene.
Predicting Nocturnal Hypoglycemia Using a Non-parametric Insulin Action Model

Nocturnal hypoglycemia is a common and potentially very dangerous condition facing persons with insulin-treated diabetes. To reduce the risk of going low while sleeping, many patient wilfully elevate their glucose level before bedtime, thereby also eroding the conditions for a sound glucose control for the next day. Recent advances in sensor technology allow for real time frequent monitoring of the glucose level, and the road map towards an artificial pancreas involves combining an insulin pump with such sensors. The first steps towards a more autonomous insulin pump have been taken by allowing the pump to suspend the insulin supply when a hypoglycemic episode is imminent. This feature relies on algorithms for predicting the nocturnal event. In this paper, we present a novel model for this purpose. In comparison to previous methods, a better trade-off between sensitivity and false alarm rate was achieved, as well as improved warning time.
Use of Tunable Whole-Cell Bioreporters to Assess Bioavailable Cadmium and Remediation Performance in Soils

It is important to have tools to measure the bioavailability to assess the risks of pollutants because the bioavailability is defined as the portions of pollutants showing the biological effects on living organisms. This study described the construction of tunable Escherichia coli whole-cell bioreporter (WCB) using the promoter region of zinc-inducible operon and its application on contaminated soils. It was verified that this WCB system showed specific and sensitive responses to cadmium rather than zinc in the experimental conditions. It was inferred that Cd(II) associates stronger with ZntR, a regulatory protein of zinc-inducible operon, than other metal ions. Moreover, the expression of reporter genes, egfp and mcherry, were proportional to the concentration of cadmium, thereby being a quantitative sensor to monitor bioavailable cadmium. The capability to determine bioavailable cadmium was verified with Cd(II) amended LUFA soils, and then the applicability on environmental systems was investigated with field soils collected from smelter area in Korea before and after soil-washing. The total amount of cadmium was decreased after soil washing, while the bioavailability was increased. Consequently, it would be valuable to have tools to assess bioavailability and the effectiveness of soil remediation should be evaluated in the aspect of bioavailability as well as removal efficiency.
Methylene blue covalently loaded polyacrylamide nanoparticles for enhanced tumor-targeted photodynamic therapy

The use of targeted nanoparticles (NPs) as a platform for loading photosensitizers enables selective accumulation of the photosensitizers in the tumor area, while maintaining their photodynamic therapy (PDT) effectiveness. Here two novel kinds of methylene blue (MB)-conjugated polyacrylamide (PAA) nanoparticles, MBI-PAA NPs and MBII-PAA NPs, based on two separate MB derivatives, are developed for PDT. This covalent conjugation with the NPs (i) improves the loading of MB, (ii) prevents any leaching of MB from the NPs and (iii) protects the MB from the effects of enzymes in the biological environment. The loading of MB into these two kinds of NPs was controlled by the input amount, resulting in concentrations with optimal singlet oxygen production. For each of the MB-NPs, the highest singlet oxygen production was found for an MB loading of around 11 nmol mg-1. After attachment of F3 peptide groups, for targeting, each of these NPs was taken up, selectively, by MDA-MB-435 tumor cells, in vitro . PDT tests demonstrated that both kinds of targeted NPs resulted in effective tumor cell kill, following illumination, while not causing dark toxicity.
The Pitfalls of a Systematic MEDLINE Review in Palliative Medicine: Symptom Assessment Instruments

The Medical Literature Analysis and Retrieval System Online (MEDLINE) database provides many references for reviews, but many relevant articles are missed, especially when the topic is complex. Reported here is the detailed methodology of a PubMed search of MEDLINE augmented by a related articles link search. Of 1181 citations identified, through a PubMed search, 10 articles met the inclusion criteria. Fifty-one were identified through the related articles link; of which 43 were not detected by standard searches using medical subject heading terms. More than 50% were identified using the related articles link. Only 14% of relevant articles were identified using the standard PubMed MEDLINE search. The related articles link is not included in methodologic recommendations for systematic literature reviews but this experience suggests that it is a useful tool in PubMed for reviewing complex evidence. Related links searches are proposed in any systematic PubMed MEDLINE literature review in palliative medicine.
The dynamics of food chains under climate change and nutrient enrichment

Warming has profound effects on biological rates such as metabolism, growth, feeding and death of organisms, eventually affecting their ability to survive. Using a nonlinear bioenergetic population-dynamic model that accounts for temperature and body-mass dependencies of biological rates, we analysed the individual and interactive effects of increasing temperature and nutrient enrichment on the dynamics of a three-species food chain. At low temperatures, warming counteracts the destabilizing effects of enrichment by both bottom-up (via the carrying capacity) and top-down (via biological rates) mechanisms. Together with increasing consumer body masses, warming increases the system tolerance to fertilization. Simultaneously, warming increases the risk of starvation for large species in low-fertility systems. This effect can be counteracted by increased fertilization. In combination, therefore, two main drivers of global change and biodiversity loss can have positive and negative effects on food chain stability. Our model incorporates the most recent empirical data and may thus be used as the basis for more complex forecasting models incorporating food-web structure.
MODEL-BASED COST-EFFECTIVENESS OF CONVENTIONAL AND INNOVATIVE CHEMO-RADIATION IN LUNG CANCER

Introduction: Optimizing radiotherapy with or without chemotherapy through advanced imaging and accelerated radiation schemes shows promising results in locally advanced non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). This study compared the cost-effectiveness of positron emission tomography-computed tomography based isotoxic accelerated sequential chemo-radiation (SRT2) and concurrent chemo-radiation with daily low-dose cisplatin (CRT2) with standard sequential (SRT1) and concurrent chemo-radiation (CRT1). Methods: We used an externally validated mathematical model to simulate the four treatment strategies. The model was built using data from 200 NSCLC patients treated with curative sequential chemo-radiation. For concurrent strategies, data from a meta-analysis and a single study were included in the model. Costs, utilities, and resource use estimates were obtained from literature. Primary outcomes were the incremental cost-effectiveness and cost-utility ratio (ICUR) of each strategy. Scenario analyses were carried out to investigate the impact of uncertainty. Results: Total undiscounted costs and quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) for SRT1, CRT1, SRT2, and CRT2 were EUR 17,288, EUR 18,756, EUR 19,072, EUR 17,360 and QALYs 1.10, 1.15, 1.40, and 1.40, respectively. Compared with SRT1, the ICURs were EUR 38,024/QALY for CRT1, EUR 6,249/QALY for SRT2, and EUR 346/QALY for CRT2. CRT2 was highly cost-effective compared with SRT1. Moreover, CRT2 was more effective and less costly than CRT1 and SRT2. Therefore, these strategies were dominated by CRT2. Conclusion: Optimized sequential and concurrent chemo-radiation strategies are more effective and cost-effective than the current conventional sequential and concurrent strategies. Concurrent chemo-radiation with a daily low dose cisplatin regimen is the most cost-effective treatment option for locally advanced inoperable NSCLC patients.
A comparison of general and explicit delay cues to reinforcement for tangible-maintained challenging behaviour

Abstract Objectives: This compares effects of explicit delay cue to reinforcement to general delay cue to reinforcement when attempting to decrease tangible-maintained challenging behaviours of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Methods: Two school-age children with ASD participated in this study. In order to evaluate the effects of a general cue versus an explicit cue on the participants’ tangibly maintained challenging behaviours, a multiple baseline design across settings with an embedded alternating treatments design was used. Results: Results suggested that both types of delay cue to reinforcement demonstrated effectiveness on decreasing tangible-maintained behaviours of the participant. For both participants, an explicit delay cue demonstrated slightly better effects on the participants’ challenging behaviours then a general delay cue. Conclusions: This study adds an evidence to support that delayed reinforcement can be used as an effective strategy to reduce both escape and tangible-maintained challenging behaviours of children with ASD across multiple settings.
On-chip architecture for self-homodyned nonclassical light

In the last decade, there has been remarkable progress on the practical integration of on-chip quantum photonic devices, yet quantum-state generators remain an outstanding challenge. Simultaneously, the quantum-dot photonic-crystal-resonator platform has demonstrated a versatility for creating nonclassical light with tunable quantum statistics thanks to a newly discovered self-homodyning interferometric effect that preferentially selects the quantum light over the classical light when using an optimally tuned Fano resonance. In this work, we propose a general structure for the cavity quantum electrodynamical generation of quantum states from a waveguide-integrated version of the quantum-dot photonic-crystal-resonator platform, which is specifically tailored for preferential quantum-state transmission. We support our results with rigorous finite-difference time-domain and quantum-optical simulations and show how our proposed device can serve as a robust generator of highly pure single- and even multiphoton states.
Bayesian-driven Multi-layer Perceptron Applied to Liver Fibrosis Stadialization

This paper proposes the application to the liver fibrosis stadialization of a novel training technique of feed-forward neural networks based on the Bayesian paradigm. Using the Pearson’s r correlation coefficient instead of the standard backpropagation algorithm to update the synaptic weights of a multi-layer perceptron, the proposed model is compared with traditional machine learning algorithms (standard MLP, RBF, PNN, SVM) using a real-life liver fibrosis dataset. The statistical comparison results indicated that the Bayesian-trained MLP proved to be at least as efficient as its classic competitors.
Small planar monopole UWB wearable antenna with low SAR

This paper reports an overview of UWB jeans antenna and evaluates the safety limits by indicating the computed Specific Absorption Rate (SAR). Simple geometry of the design was aimed in order to fabricate the antenna with minimum errors. The proposed design is a rectangular patch placed on 32 × 34 mm2 jeans substrate with partial ground. Simulated and measured S11 parameter for the antenna at free space is reported in this paper. Simulated radiation patterns are also presented in this paper. The performance of the antenna has then been examined in close proximity to a developed model of human arm. Evaluation of SAR has included calculating 10-g SAR when the antenna placed at 5, 10, 15 and 20 mm far from the phantom.