Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Automated Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy and Semiautomated Image Processing for Analysis of Biofilms

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to develop and apply a quantitative optical method suitable for routine measurements of biofilm structures under in situ conditions. A computer program was designed to perform automated investigations of biofilms by using image acquisition and image analysis techniques. To obtain a representative profile of a growing biofilm, a nondestructive procedure was created to study and quantify undisturbed microbial populations within the physical environment of a glass flow cell. Key components of the computer-controlled processing described in this paper are the on-line collection of confocal two-dimensional (2D) cross-sectional images from a preset 3D domain of interest followed by the off-line analysis of these 2D images. With the quantitative extraction of information contained in each image, a three-dimensional reconstruction of the principal biological events can be achieved. The program is convenient to handle and was generated to determine biovolumes and thus facilitate the examination of dynamic processes within biofilms. In the present study, Pseudomonas fluorescens or a green fluorescent protein-expressing Escherichia coli strain, EC12, was inoculated into glass flow cells and the respective monoculture biofilms were analyzed in three dimensions. In this paper we describe a method for the routine measurements of biofilms by using automated image acquisition and semiautomated image analysis.
Dietary Supplementations as Neuroprotective Therapies: Focus on NT-020 Diet Benefits in a Rat Model of Stroke

Stroke remains the number one cause of disability in the adult population. Despite scientific progress in our understanding of stroke pathology, only one treatment (tissue plasminogen activator or tPA) is able to afford benefits but to less than 3% of ischemic stroke patients. The development of experimental dietary supplement therapeutics designed to stimulate endogenous mechanisms that confer neuroprotection is likely to open new avenues for exploring stroke therapies. The present review article evaluates the recent literature supporting the benefits of dietary supplementation for the therapy of ischemic stroke. This article focuses on discussing the medical benefits of NT-020 as an adjunct agent for stroke therapy. Based on our preliminary data, a pre-stroke treatment with dietary supplementation promotes neuroprotection by decreasing inflammation and enhancing neurogenesis. However, we recognize that a pre-stroke treatment holds weak clinical relevance. Thus, the main goal of this article is to provide information about recent data that support the assumption of natural compounds as neuroprotective and to evaluate the therapeutic effects of a dietary supplement called NT-020 as in a stroke model. We focus on a systematic assessment of practical treatment parameters so that NT-020 and other dietary supplementations can be developed as an adjunct agent for the prevention or treatment of chronic diseases. We offer rationale for determining the optimal dosage, therapeutic window, and mechanism of action of NT-020 as a dietary supplement to produce neuroprotection when administered immediately after stroke onset. We highlight our long-standing principle in championing both translational and basic science approaches in an effort to fully reveal the therapeutic potential of NT-020 as dietary supplementation in the treatment of stroke. We envision dietary supplementation as an adjunct therapy for stroke at acute, subacute, and even chronic periods.
A sub-threshold FPGA with low-swing dual-VDD interconnect in 90nm CMOS

This paper presents a sub-threshold Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) that uses a low-swing dual-VDD global interconnect fabric to reduce energy and improve delay. A 90nm chip implements the FPGA with 1134 LUTs, which is 2.7X smaller, 14X faster, and 4.7X less energy than a sub-threshold FPGA using conventional interconnect and 22X less energy than an equivalent FPGA at full VDD.
Star formation in the circumnuclear environment of NGC 1068

ABSTRA C T We present near-infrared emission-line images of the circumnuclear ring in NGC 1068. We have measured the Brg fluxes in a number of star-forming complexes and derived the extinction for each of these by comparison with Ha. We investigate the star-forming histories of these regions and find that a short burst of star formation occurred coevally throughout the ring within the last 30‐40 Myr, and perhaps as recently as 4‐7 Myr ago. The 1‐0 S(1) flux and S(1)/Brg ratios indicate that as well as fluorescence, shock-excited H2 emission contributes to the total flux. There is excess H2 flux to the north-west where the ionization cone crosses the ring, and we show that it is possible that the non-stellar continuum from the Seyfert nucleus which produces the high-excitation lines could also be causing fluorescence at the edges of molecular clouds in the ring. The nuclear 1‐0 S(1) is more extended than previously realized but only along the bar’s major axis, and we consider mechanisms for its excitation.
Why Do Children Transgress Against Others? Mother’s Attributions for Children’s and Adolescents’ Harmful Behaviors with Friends and Siblings

This study investigated mothers’ attributions for children’s and adolescent’s transgressions towards their friends and younger siblings. Specifically, we examined (1) the types of attributions mothers make for their child’s harming behavior at different ages, (2) the types of attributions mothers make for children’s harming behavior across two relationship contexts (sibling and friend), and (3) if age-related changes in attributions about hurting friends are similar to, or different from, age-related changes in attributions about hurting siblings. A total of 101 children and adolescents were privately asked to nominate a time when they hurt or upset their younger sibling and friend (order counterbalanced). After the mothers and children conversed about these specific events, the mothers were privately asked a series of follow-up questions about their interpretations of these harming instances. Results indicated that mothers made different attributions in response to their children’s transgressions against their friends and siblings. Mothers more frequently made attributions of agent causality, intentional behavior, intentional harm, provocation (externality), stable relationship history, and consistent behavior when discussing conflicts with siblings. In contrast, when discussing conflicts with friends, mothers more frequently made attributions of externality (peer-related influences), event specificity, and unintentional harm. Unexpectedly, there were no significant main effects of the child’s age on mothers’ attributions. Overall, the findings elucidate how parents’ interpretations are situated within children’s distinctive relationship contexts (siblings and friends). Implications for parenting and child socialization are discussed.
SIMULATION MODELLING OF BUSINESS PROCESSES

Increasingly, organisations need to adapt to new conditions and competitive pressures. Various change management approaches such as business process reengineering have been developed to meet this perceived need. This paper investigates the potential of simulation modelling for modelling business processes. After a discussion on business processes related issues, an overview of business process modelling methods is presented. The usability of simulation modelling for evaluating alternative business process strategies is investigated. Finally, a framework for business process simulation is proposed.
Directions for 21st Century Lifelong Learning Institutes: Elucidating Questions from Osher Lifelong Learning Institute Studies

The literature regarding lifelong learning is robust, while the literature on lifelong learning institutions, centers, and programs remain under-researched in comparison. This article draws insights from a specific network of lifelong learning institutes with a rich history and high rapport in the United States: the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) network. Sixty articles regarding OLLIs are catalogued and highlighted to elucidate twelve thematic areas and twelve questions for future research and practice. In particular, these themes are related to adult education, healthy aging, and educational gerontology. The article concludes by reflecting on trends in and needs for institutional research and practice. Les publications portant sur l’éducation permanente sont nombreuses, contrairement à celles touchant les institutions, centres et programmes d’éducation permanente qui, en comparaison, demeurent généralement mal connus. Cet article recueille des idées d’un réseau d’instituts d’éducation permanente ayant un passé riche et de bons rapports aux États-Unis : le réseau Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI). Soixante articles portant sur OLLI ont été catalogués et analysés pour faire ressortir douze thèmes et douze questions pour la recherche et la pratique à l’avenir. Ces thèmes se rattachent à l’éducation des adultes, le vieillissement sain et la gérontologie éducative. L’article se termine par des réflexions sur des tendances et des besoins relatifs à la recherche et la pratique institutionnelles. Mots clés : recherche institutionnelle, éducation permanente, ainés, éducation des adultes, universités adaptées aux personnes âgées
Using Continuous Integration to organize and monitor the annotation process of domain specific corpora

Applications in the World Wide Web aggregate vast amounts of information from different data sources. The aggregation process is often implemented with Extract, Transform and Load (ETL) processes. Usually ETL processes require information for aggregation available in structured formats, e. g. XML or JSON. In many cases the information is provided in natural language text which makes the application of ETL processes impractical. Due to the fact that information is provided in natural language, Information Extraction (IE) systems have been evolved. They make use of Natural Language Processing (NLP) tools to derive meaning from natural language text. State-of-the-art NLP tools apply Machine Learning methods. These NLP tools perform on newspapers with good quality, but they drop accuracy in other domains. However, to improve the quality for IE systems in specific domains often NLP tools are trained on domain specific text which is a time consuming process. This paper introduces an approach using a Continuous Integration pipeline for organizing and monitoring the annotation process on domain specific corpora.
Generalizing random-vector SLAM with random finite sets

The simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) problem in mobile robotics has traditionally been formulated using random vectors. Alternatively, random finite sets(RFSs) can be used in the formulation, which incorporates non-heursitic-based data association and detection statistics within an estimator that provides both spatial and cardinality estimates of landmarks. This paper mathematically shows that the two formulations are actually closely related, and that RFS SLAM can be viewed as a generalization of vector-based SLAM. Under a set of ideal detection conditions, the two methods are equivalent. This is validated by using simulations and real experimental data, by comparing principled realizations of the two formulations.
Overview of the GPS M Code Signal

Abstract : Over the past year, the GPS Military Signal Design Team (GMSDT), led by the GPS Joint Program Office (JPO), has produced a recommended design of the new military signal for the L1 and L2 bands. This paper synopsizes the resulting M code signal design, which is to be implemented in modernized satellites and in a new generation of receivers. The paper summarizes the history that led to GPS Modernization with a new military signal on L1 and L2. After an overview of the M code signal design, the paper describes the modulation design, along with aspects of the design for signal acquisition and the data message. It also outlines some of the aspects of implementing M code signal transmission on modernized satellites, and M code signal reception in a new generation of User Equipment. Plans for refinement and further verification of the design are outlined.
An edge-region cooperative multi-agent approach for buildings extraction

This paper presents a new approach for automatic building detection in very high resolution satellite images. The proposed method is a cooperative multi-agent approach between both an edge and region approach. In the pretreatment step, a supervisor agent finds a building's corner using Harris detector. Starting from these points, a cooperation process is used to extract buildings. Experiments are done on images of Strasbourg city taken by Quickbird.
Antioxidant and antiapoptotic effects of erdosteine in a rat model of ovarian ischemia-reperfusion injury

Objective(s): To evaluate the protective effect of erdosteine, an antiapoptotic and antioxidant agent, on torsion–detorsion evoked histopathological changes in experimental ovarian ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury. Materials and Methods: Eighteen female Wistar albino rats were used in control, IR, and IR+Edosteine (IR-E) groups, (n=6 in each). The IR-E group received the erdosteine for seven days before the induction of torsion/retorsion, (10 mg/kg/days). The IR and IR-E groups were exposed to right unilateral adnexal torsion for 3 hr. Three hours later, re-laparotomy was performed, and the right ovaries were surgically excised. Oxidant and antioxidants levels were determined in serum. The ovarian tissue samples were received and fixed with 10% neutral buffered formalin. The sections were stained with H&E, anti-PCNA, and TUNEL. Results: The IR group were showed severe acute inflammation, polynuclear leukocytes and macrophages, stromal oedema and haemorrhage. Treatment with erdosteine in rats significantly retained degenerative changes in the ovary PCNA (+) cell numbers were significantly decreased in the IR and IR-E groups unlike the control group. However, its numbers were significantly increased in the IR-E group unlike the IR group. TUNEL (+) cell numbers were significantly increased in the IR group unlike the control and the IR-E groups. In erdosteine treated group, TUNEL (+) cells were detected significantly less than the IR group (P<0.05). Conclusion: In conclusion, erdosteine maybe a protective agent for ovarian damage and decreasing lipid peroxidation products and leukocytes aggregation after adnexal torsion in animals.
Evolutionary Algorithms: Theory and Applications

Evolutionary algorithms which model natural evolution processes have been successfully used for optimization. Theoretical explanations why and how the algorithms work have been less successful. In this paper evolutionary algorithms are considered as random search methods. The genetic operators mutation and recombination are evaluated according to the measure expected progress. Mutation is analyzed by Markov chains and probability theory. Recombination is investigated together with selection by methods of quantitative genetics. Furthermore it is shown that hillclimbing improves the eeciency of the search in ruggged landscapes. The theoretical results are used in two evolutionary algorithms-the parallel genetic algorithm PGA and the breeder genetic algorithm BGA. The PGA models natural evolution which self-organizes itself, the BGA models rational controlled evolution by a virtual breeder. The eeciency of both algorithms is shown with numerical examples. Results of a real world problem, the determination of binary sequences of low autocorrelation, are reported.
Diverse Responses of Remotely Sensed Grassland Phenology to Interannual Climate Variability over Frozen Ground Regions in Mongolia

Frozen ground may regulate the phenological shifts of dry and cold grasslands at the southern edge of the Eurasian cryosphere. In this study, an investigation based on the MODIS Collection 5 phenology product and climatic data collected from 2001 to 2009 reveals the diverse responses of grassland phenology to interannual climate variability over various frozen ground regions in Mongolia. Compared with middle and southern typical steppe and desert steppe, the spring (start of season; SOS) and autumn (end of season; EOS) phenological events of northern forest steppe with lower air temperature tend to be earlier and later, respectively. Both the SOS and EOS are less sensitive to climate variability in permafrost regions than in other regions, whereas the SOS of typical steppe is more sensitive to both air temperature and precipitation over sporadic permafrost and seasonal frozen ground regions. Over various frozen ground regions in Mongolia; the SOS is mainly dominated by the prior autumn precipitation, and frozen ground plays a vital role in storing the precipitation of the previous autumn for the subsequent grass green-up. The EOS is mainly dominated by autumn air temperature. These findings could help to improve phenological models of grasslands in extremely dry and cold regions.
A spectral clustering and kalman filtering based objects detection and tracking using stereo vision with linear cameras

3D scene based objects detection and tracking is a central problem in many intelligent transportation applications. Dynamic stereo vision is the known approach to solve this problem. It consists in detecting and tracking objects from their reconstructed features using stereo images. This paper proposes a new method for detecting and tracking objects using stereo vision with linear cameras. Edge points extracted from the stereo linear images are first matched to reconstruct points that represent the objects in the scene. To detect the objects, a clustering process based on a spectral analysis is then applied to the reconstructed points. The obtained clusters are finally tracked throughout their center of gravity using Kalman filtering and a Nearest Neighbour based data association algorithm. Experimental results using real stereo linear images are shown to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods for obstacle detection and tracking in front of a vehicle.
Expediting search trend detection via prediction of query counts

The massive volume of queries submitted to major Web search engines reflects human interest at a global scale. While the popularity of many search queries is stable over time or fluctuates with periodic regularity, some queries experience a sudden and ephemeral rise in popularity that is unexplained by their past volumes. Typically the popularity surge is precipitated by some real-life event in the news cycle. Such queries form what are known as search trends. All major search engines, using query log analysis and other signals, invest in detecting such trends. The goal is to surface trends accurately, with low latency relative to the actual event that sparked the trend. This work formally defines precision, recall and latency metrics related to top-k search trend detection. Then, observing that many trend detection algorithms rely on query counts, we develop a linear auto-regression model to predict future query counts. Subsequently, we tap the predicted counts to expedite search trend detection by plugging them into an existing trend detection scheme. Experimenting with query logs from a major Web search engine, we report both the stand-alone accuracy of our query count predictions, as well as the task-oriented effects of the prediction on the emitted trends. We show an average reduction in trend detection latency of roughly twenty minutes, with a negligible impact on the precision and recall metrics.
Early prediction of myocardial viability after acute myocardial infarction by two-dimensional speckle tracking imaging

Background Identifying the transmural extent of myocardial necrosis and the degree of myocardial viability in acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is important clinically. The aim of this study was to assess myocardial viability using two-dimensional speckle tracking imaging (2D-STI) in patients with AMI. Methods 2D-STI was performed at initial presentation, three days, and six months after primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in 30 patients with AMI, who had a left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) culprit lesion. In addition, 20 patients who had minimal stenotic lesions (< 30% stenosis) on coronary angiography were also included in the control group. At six months dobutamine echocardiography was performed for viability assessment in seven segments of the LAD territory. According to the recovery of wall motion abnormality, segments were classified as viable or non-viable. Results A total of 131 segments were viable, and 44 were nonviable. Multivariate analysis revealed significant differences between the viable and nonviable segments in the peak systolic strain, the peak systolic strain rate at initial presentation, and peak systolic strain rate three days after primary PCI. Among these, the initial peak systolic strain rate had the highest predictive value for myocardial viability (hazard ratio: 31.22, P < 0.01). Conclusions 2D-STI is feasible for assessing myocardial viability, and the peak systolic strain rate might be the most reliable predictor of myocardial viability in patients with AMI.
Developing a Fuzzy Clustering-Based Method for Categorizing Young Adolescent Students Based on Their Empathy Scores and Exploring the Relationship Between Their Empathy and Learning Behaviors

Background: Empathy is a skill that has been proved effective in learning and teaching processes. Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore the relationship between students’ empathy and their learning behaviors. Methods: A fuzzy clustering-based method (an area of artificial intelligence) was used, according to which students were classified to clusters based on their empathy measures. Students’ empathy was assessed through a questionnaire. Overall, 345 students (11 to 13 years old) from six schools located in three different areas of Tehran, Iran, participated in this study, selected by multistage cluster sampling. In this method, similar samples are classified in one cluster and, then, clusters can be labeled based on their attributes (empathy measures). Two teacher-reported and student-reported questionnaires were used to assess the learning behavior and empathy levels of students. Questionnaires were completed by the students and their teachers during school year 2017 and 2018 (from autumn 2017 to spring 2018). All calculations were performed in MATLAB, a multi-purpose programming environment. Results: Although statistical parameters showed a strong relationship between students’ empathy and their learning behaviors, AI clustering process provides a more exact analysis due to its nature. The results revealed a significant relationship between empathy scores and learning among male students. A P value of 0.0031 indicates a meaningful relationship between empathy scores and learning behavior measures. Conclusions: Number of students in each cluster showed that females are more uniform than males in the sense of empathy. Cultural backgrounds have significant effects on answers to questions. Processes revealed a meaningful difference between males and females when their connection of empathy and learning behaviors were investigated. Cognitive components seem to be more determinative than affective components.