Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Automatic Skin Lesion Segmentation using Semi-supervised Learning Technique

Skin cancer is the most common of all cancers and each year million cases of skin cancer are treated. Treating and curing skin cancer is easy, if it is diagnosed and treated at an early stage. In this work we propose an automatic technique for skin lesion segmentation in dermoscopic images which helps in classifying the skin cancer types. The proposed method comprises of two major phases (1) preprocessing and (2) segmentation using semi-supervised learning algorithm. In the preprocessing phase noise are removed using filtering technique and in the segmentation phase skin lesions are segmented based on clustering technique. K-means clustering algorithm is used to cluster the preprocessed images and skin lesions are filtered from these clusters based on the color feature. Color of the skin lesions are learned from the training images using histograms calculations in RGB color space. The training images were downloaded from the ISIC 2017 challenge website and the experimental results were evaluated using validation and test sets.
The contribution of static and dynamic interaural differences to low-frequency BMLDs

Binaural Masking Level Differences (BMLDs) are still a popular means to study binaural interaction in auditory perception. Adding an out-of-phase sinusoid to an inphase Gaussian-noise masker (a condition labelled NoSπ) causes the interaural correlation of the stimulus to decrease, a cue to which the auditory system is particularly sensitive. On the other hand, the addition of the signal causes both the interaural differences of time or phase (ITD, IPD) and the interaural intensity difference (IID) to fluctuate around a mean of zero. The rate of these fluctuations depends on the effective bandwidth of the noise masker, i.e. the bandwidth after peripheral filtering in the inner ear. In terms of spatial perception, we can state that the internal image of an NoSπ stimulus is centered in the head (no lateralization cue), but that it is less compact than the image of the noise alone. A drawback of the BMLD paradigm lies in the difficulty in linking the results and models to lateralization and localization phenomena. The present paper introduces an experimental procedure based on a noise type different from Gaussian noise, which allows us to separately investigate the contribution of static (i.e., lateralization) and dynamic (i.e., decorrelation) cues in a BMLD setting. In addition, the procedure allows us to create only IID or only ITD cues. In experiments using Gaussian-noise maskers, both these cues are available and their standard deviations are coupled (see Zurek, 1991). We expect that this experimental paradigm will help in further improving binaural models and finally allowing a unification of models that are able to predict localization and those that are able to predict binaural signal detection thresholds (cf. Stern and Shear, 1996).
Advances in ion beam sputtered Sc2O3 for optical interference coatings

Scandium oxide is an attractive candidate for the engineering of interference coatings, although not widely explored. This paper describes the ion beam sputtering of Sc2O3. It is shown that the structural properties of the material are affected by the deposition conditions. Laser damage in different regimes of pulsewidths is investigated. These results show that the 1-on-1 laser damage fluence, in both the thermal and deterministic regimes, varies with deposition conditions but this is not the case for S-on-1, indicating that laser-induced defects are important.
Parallel Algorithms for Constrained Tensor Factorization via Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers

Tensor factorization has proven useful in a wide range of applications, from sensor array processing to communications, speech and audio signal processing, and machine learning. With few recent exceptions, all tensor factorization algorithms were originally developed for centralized, in-memory computation on a single machine; and the few that break away from this mold do not easily incorporate practically important constraints, such as non-negativity. A new constrained tensor factorization framework is proposed in this paper, building upon the Alternating Direction Method of Multipliers (ADMoM). It is shown that this simplifies computations, bypassing the need to solve constrained optimization problems in each iteration; and it naturally leads to distributed algorithms suitable for parallel implementation. This opens the door for many emerging big data-enabled applications. The methodology is exemplified using non-negativity as a baseline constraint, but the proposed framework can incorporate many other types of constraints. Numerical experiments are encouraging, indicating that ADMoM-based non-negative tensor factorization (NTF) has high potential as an alternative to state-of-the-art approaches.
Familial and racial determinants of tumour suppressor genes promoter hypermethylation in breast tissues from healthy women

To determine the hypermethylation status of the promoter regions of tumour suppressor genes in breast tissues from healthy women and identify the determinants of these epigenetic changes. Questionnaires and breast tissues were collected from healthy women without a history of cancer and undergoing reduction mammoplasty (N= 141). Methylation for p16INK4, BRCA1, ERα and RAR‐β promoter regions from breast tissues were determined by methylation specific PCR. Associations were examined with chi‐square and Fisher’s exact test as well as logistic regression. All statistical tests were two‐sided. p16INK4, BRCA1, ERα and RAR‐β hypermethylation were identified in 31%, 17%, 9% and 0% of the women, respectively. Women with BRCA1 hypermethylation had an eight‐fold increase in the risk of ERα hypermethylation (P= 0.007). p16INK4 hypermethylation was present in 28% of African‐Americans, but 65% in European‐Americans (P= 0.02). There was an increased likelihood of p16INK4 or BRCA1 hypermethylation for women with family history of cancer (OR 2.3; 95%CI: 1.05–4.85 and OR 5.0; 95%CI: 1.55–15.81, respectively). ERα hypermethylation was associated with family history of breast cancer (OR 6.6; 95%CI: 1.58–27.71). After stratification by race, p16INK4 in European‐Americans and BRCA1 hypermethylation in African‐Americans were associated with family history of cancer (OR 3.8; 95%CI: 1.21–12.03 and OR 6.5; 95%CI: 1.33–31.32, respectively). Gene promoter hypermethylation was commonly found in healthy breast tissues from women without cancer, indicating that these events are frequent and early lesions. Race and family history of cancer increase the likelihood of these early events.
SEAR - Scalable, Efficient, Accurate, Robust kNN-based Regression

Regression algorithms are used for prediction (including forecasting of time-series data), inference, hypothesis testing, and modeling of causal relationships. Statistical approaches although popular, are not generic in that they require the user to make an intelligent guess about the form of the regression equation. In this paper we present a new regression algorithm SEAR – Scalable, Efficient, Accurate kNN-based Regression. In addition to this, SEAR is simple and outlier-resilient. These desirable features make SEAR a very attractive alternative to existing approaches. Our experimental study compares SEAR with fourteen other algorithms on five standard real datasets, and shows that SEAR is more accurate than all its competitors.
Fabrication of Active Thin Films for Vibration Damping In MEMS Devices for the Next Generation Army Munition Systems

Abstract : This research combined continuum mechanics modeling, materials design, materials fabrication/processing, and experimental testing/characterization to promote a materials solution for passive damping of undesirable extrinsic vibrations in microelectromechanical-systems-based devices. Shape memory alloy, nickel titanium (NiTi) thin films were deposited by an in-situ reactive DC magnetron sputtering process and piezoelectric, barium strontium titanate (Ba0.80Sr0.20TiO3) were fabricated using pulsed laser deposition and metal organic solution deposition techniques. These films were integrated as a bi-layer structure on n+ platinum silicon substrates to form a vibration-damping pedestal module known as "active materials". The optimized post deposition annealing temperatures for the shape memory alloy and piezoelectric thin films were determined to be 500 and 750 degrees C, respectively. Crystalline, pinhole-free, and crackfree films of 250-400 nm thickness were fabricated. The surface roughness of the films was around 2.2 nm with average grain size of approximately 50 nm. Cross- sectional microscopy affirmed the dense and uniform microstructure. The bilayer pedestal design concept offers a solution for passive damping.
A Novel Virtual Motor Rehabilitation System for Guillain-Barré Syndrome

Summary Introduction: This article is part of the Focus Theme of Methods of Information in Medicine on “New Methodologies for Patients Rehabilitation”. Objectives: For Guillain-Barré patients, motor rehabilitation programs are helpful at the onset to prevent the complications of paralysis and in cases of persistent motor impairment. Traditional motor rehabilitation programs may be tedious and monotonous, resulting in low adherence to the treatments. A Virtual Motor Rehabilitation system has been tested in Guillain-Barré patients to increase patient adherence and to improve clinical results. Methods: Two people with Guillain-Barré performed 20 rehabilitation sessions. We tested a novel system based on Motor Virtual Rehabilitation in three periods of time (baseline evaluation, final evaluation, and follow-up. In the training program, the participants carried out a specific treatment using the Active Balance Rehabilitation system (ABAR). The system is composed of customizable virtual games to perform static and dynamic balance rehabilitation. Results: Significant improvements in clinical results were obtained by both participants, with significant results in the static balance clinical test of the Anterior Reach test in the standing position and unipedal stance time. Other significant results were found in dynamic balance clinical tests in the Berg Balance Scale test and the 30-second Sit-to-Stand test. With regard to acceptance of the system, both patients enjoyed the experience, and both patients thought that this system was helpful for their rehabilitation. Conclusions: The results show that Virtual Motor Rehabilitation for Guillain-Barré patients provides clinical improvements in an entertaining way.
Menthol activation of corneal cool cells induces TRPM8-mediated lacrimation but not nociceptive responses in rodents.

PURPOSE Stimulation to the cornea via noxious chemical and mechanical means evokes tearing, blinking, and pain. In contrast, mild cooling of the ocular surface has been reported to increase lacrimation via activation of corneal cool primary afferent neurons. The purpose of our study was to determine whether menthol induces corneal cool cell activity and lacrimation via the transient receptor potential melastatin-8 (TRPM8) channel without evoking nociceptive responses. METHODS Tear measurements were made using a cotton thread in TRPM8 wild type and knockout mice after application of menthol (0.05-50 mM) to the cornea. In additional studies, nocifensive responses (eye swiping and lid closure) were quantified following cornea menthol application. Trigeminal ganglion electrophysiologic single unit recordings were performed in rats to determine the effect of low and high concentrations of menthol on corneal cool cells. RESULTS At low concentrations, menthol increased tear production in TRPM8 wild type and heterozygous animals, but had no effect in TRPM8 knockout mice, while nocifensive responses remained unaffected. At the highest concentration, menthol (50 mM) increased tearing and nocifensive responses in TRPM8 wild type and knockout animals. A low concentration of menthol (0.1 mM) increased cool cell activity, yet a high concentration of menthol (50 mM) had no effect. CONCLUSIONS These studies indicated that low concentrations of menthol can increase lacrimation via TRPM8 channels without evoking nocifensive behaviors. At high concentrations, menthol can induce lacrimation and nocifensive behaviors in a TRPM8 independent mechanism. The increase in lacrimation is likely due to an increase in cool cell activity.
Expanded mixed finite element methods for linear second-order elliptic problems, I

L'objet de cet article est l'ecriture d'une nouvelle formulation mixte relative aux problemes elliptiques d'ordre deux, et l'implementation de methodes d'elements finis mixtes pour la determination de solutions approchees. On donne alors des estimations d'erreurs en norme L p et H - s . Enfin, on construit une methode pour laquelle des resultats de superconvergence en norme L p sont obtenus.
Speedy Routing Recovery Protocol for Large Failure Tolerance in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless sensor networks are expected to play an increasingly important role in data collection in hazardous areas. However, the physical fragility of a sensor node makes reliable routing in hazardous areas a challenging problem. Because several sensor nodes in a hazardous area could be damaged simultaneously, the network should be able to recover routing after node failures over large areas. Many routing protocols take single-node failure recovery into account, but it is difficult for these protocols to recover the routing after large-scale failures. In this paper, we propose a routing protocol, referred to as ARF (Adaptive routing protocol for fast Recovery from large-scale Failure), to recover a network quickly after failures over large areas. ARF detects failures by counting the packet losses from parent nodes, and upon failure detection, it decreases the routing interval to notify the neighbor nodes of the failure. Our experimental results indicate that ARF could provide recovery from large-area failures quickly with less packets and energy consumption than previous protocols.
Frequency tuned salient edge detection

This paper presents a novel method for salient edge detection based on the frequency tuning principle. Limiting the operation to a single wavelet sub-band, the frequency components of the wavelet are analyzed. The average value in each frequency component (horizontal, vertical, and diagonal) is computed and subtracted from each pixel in its respective component. This creates a variance which allows the salient edges to pop out more significantly. Reconstructing the wavelet using only the frequency components yields a strong response to salient edges. Comparisons are given to classic salient edge detection methods.
Face Recognition Using 3D Directional Corner Points

In this paper, we present a novel face recognition approach using 3D directional corner points (3D DCPs). Traditionally, points and meshes are applied to represent and match 3D shapes. Here we represent 3D surfaces by 3D DCPs derived from ridge and valley curves. Then we develop a 3D DCP matching method to compute the similarity of two different 3D surfaces. This representation, along with the similarity metric can effectively integrate structural and spatial information on 3D surfaces. The added information can provide more and better discriminative power for object recognition. It strengthens and improves the matching process of similar 3D objects such as faces. To evaluate the performance of our method for 3D face recognition, we have performed experiments on Face Recognition Grand Challenge v2.0 database (FRGC v2.0) and resulted in a rank-one recognition rate of 97.1%. This study demonstrates that 3D DCPs provides a new solution for 3D face recognition, which may also find its application in general 3D object representation and recognition.
Energy‐filtered Photoelectron Emission Microscopy (EF‐PEEM) for imaging nanoelectronic materials

Photoelectron‐Emission Microscopy (PEEM) is the most promising approach to photoemission‐based (XPS, UPS) imaging techniques with high lateral resolution, typically below 100 nm. It has now reached its maturity with a new generation of instruments with energy‐filtering capabilities. Therefore UPS and XPS imaging with energy‐filtered PEEM (EF‐PEEM) can be applied to technologically‐relevant samples. UPS images with contrast in local work function, obtained with laboratory UV sources, are obtained in ultra‐high vacuum environment with lateral resolutions better than 50 nm and sensitivies of 20 meV. XPS images with elemental and bonding state contrast can show up lateral resolution better than 200 nm with synchrotron excitation. In this paper, we present the principles and capabilities of EF‐PEEM and nanospectroscopy. Then, we focus on an example of application to non‐destructive work‐function imaging of polycrystalline copper for advanced interconnects, where it is shown that EF‐PEEM is an alternative to Ke.
Eradication of virulent footrot from sheep and goats in an endemic area of Nepal and an evaluation of specific vaccination

Programmes based on the identification and treatment of cases and the culling of animals refractory to treatment had failed to eradicate virulent footrot from two districts in the western region of Nepal. From 1993 to 1996 vaccination against two endemic virulent strains of Dichelobader nodosus was tested for its potential to contribute to the eradication of footrot from the region. Only sheep and goats which had been free of signs of footrot at three inspections at monthly intervals before their annual migration to alpine pastures were eligible for inclusion. From November 1992, the treatment of cases identified during inspections included the injection of specific vaccine. Successfully treated cases migrated with their flocks but were excluded from the vaccine trial. Non-responding cases were culled. Forty combined flocks of sheep and goats (approximately 9500 animals) were used initially to compare three vaccination regimens. Eleven flocks (sheep and goats) were treated with two doses of specific vaccine (group A), nine (sheep and goats) were treated with commercial vaccine followed by specific vaccine (group B) and 10 (sheep and goats) were treated with two doses of commercial vaccine (group C) in March to April 1993 before the annual migration; 10 flocks (sheep and goats) remained unvaccinated (group D). Only sheep and goats free of signs of footrot were allowed to migrate. Nevertheless, virulent footrot recurred in many flocks three months later. However, its prevalence was significantly lower in group A than in the other three groups combined. Groups A, B and C then received the specific vaccine before their migrations in 1994 to 1996; group D remained unvaccinated. The annual programme of inspection and identification and treatment of cases continued for seven years, but the vaccinations ceased after four years. There was no recurrence of virulent footrot after November 1993. After the first season the virulent strains of D nodosus used in the specific vaccine could no longer be isolated, although antigenically distinct, benign strains of the organism persisted in cases of benign footrot.
Scale and Rotation Invariant Approach to Tracking Human Body Part Regions in Videos

We propose a novel scale and rotation invariant method to track a human subject's body part regions in cluttered videos. The proposed method optimizes the assembly of body part region proposals with the spatial and temporal constraints of a human body plan. This approach is invariant to the object scale and rotation changes. To enable scale and rotation invariance, the human body part graph of the proposed method has to be loopy, efficiently optimizing the body part region assembly is a great challenge. We propose a dynamic programming method to solve the problem. We devise a method that finds N-best whole body configurations from loopy structures in each video frame using dynamic programming. The N-best configurations are then used to construct trellises with which we track human body part regions by finding shortest paths on the trellises. Our experiments on a variety of videos show that the proposed method is efficient, accurate and robust against object appearance variations, scale and rotation changes and background clutter.
Nano-Scale Indentation Creep Testing at Non-Ambient Temperature

Abstract Depth sensing nanoindentation can be used to study the time-dependent deformation of very small volumes of materials, contacts, and thin films. Force modulation provides a continuous measure of the contact stiffness during an indentation, and minimises the adverse effect of thermal drift which is particularly important for sub-micron samples. Most of the nanoindentation experimental work so far has been carried out at room temperature. In this paper we describe a solid-state thermoelectric heating and cooling system which gives a straightforward way to vary the temperature of both sample and tip. The capabilities of the technique are demonstrated by observing the time and temperature dependent creep properties of high purity Indium. Hardness, its strain rate dependence, the stress exponent, and the activation energy for the creep process can all be directly measured from nanometre scale contacts, and the values obtained are similar to those from bulk conventional creep testing. The technique is l.
Detection of the Influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 Virus Carrying the K-15E, P83S and Q293H Mutations in Patients Who Have Undergone Bone Marrow Transplant

The 2009 pandemic influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 virus emerged and caused considerable morbidity and mortality in the third world, especially in Brazil. Although circulating strains of A(H1N1)pdm09 are A/California/04/2009-like (CA-04-like) viruses, various studies have suggested that some mutations in the viral hemagglutinin (HA) may be associated with enhanced severity and fatality. This phenomenon is particularly challenging for immunocompromised individuals, such as those who have undergone bone marrow transplant (BMT), because they are more likely to display worse clinical outcomes to influenza infection than non-immunocompromised individuals. We studied the clinical and viral aspects of post-BMT patients with confirmed A(H1N1)pdm09 diagnosis in the largest cancer hospital in Brazil. We found a viral strain with K-15E, P83S and Q293H polymorphisms in the HA, which is presumably more virulent, in these individuals. Despite that, these patients showed only mild symptoms of infection. Our findings complement the discovery of mild cases of infection with the A(H1N1)pdm09 virus with the K-15E, P83S and Q293H mutations in Brazil and oppose other studies that have linked these changes with increased disease severity. These results could be important for a better comprehension of the impact of the pandemic influenza in the context of BMT.