Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Laparoscopic stereoscopic augmented reality: toward a clinically viable electromagnetic tracking solution

Abstract. The purpose of this work was to develop a clinically viable laparoscopic augmented reality (AR) system employing stereoscopic (3-D) vision, laparoscopic ultrasound (LUS), and electromagnetic (EM) tracking to achieve image registration. We investigated clinically feasible solutions to mount the EM sensors on the 3-D laparoscope and the LUS probe. This led to a solution of integrating an externally attached EM sensor near the imaging tip of the LUS probe, only slightly increasing the overall diameter of the probe. Likewise, a solution for mounting an EM sensor on the handle of the 3-D laparoscope was proposed. The spatial image-to-video registration accuracy of the AR system was measured to be 2.59±0.58 mm and 2.43±0.48 mm for the left- and right-eye channels, respectively. The AR system contributed 58-ms latency to stereoscopic visualization. We further performed an animal experiment to demonstrate the use of the system as a visualization approach for laparoscopic procedures. In conclusion, we have developed an integrated, compact, and EM tracking-based stereoscopic AR visualization system, which has the potential for clinical use. The system has been demonstrated to achieve clinically acceptable accuracy and latency. This work is a critical step toward clinical translation of AR visualization for laparoscopic procedures.
A 3D assessment tool for accurate volume measurement for monitoring the evolution of cutaneous Leishmaniasis wounds

Clinical assessment and outcome metrics are serious weaknesses identified on the systematic reviews of cutaneous Leishmaniasis wounds. Methods with high accuracy and low-variability are required to standarize study outcomes in clinical trials. This work presents a precise, complete and noncontact 3D assessment tool for monitoring the evolution of cutaneous Leishmaniasis (CL) wounds based on a 3D laser scanner and computer vision algorithms. A 3D mesh of the wound is obtained by a commercial 3D laser scanner. Then, a semi-automatic segmentation using active contours is performed to separate the ulcer from the healthy skin. Finally, metrics of volume, area, perimeter and depth are obtained from the mesh. Traditional manual 3D and 3D measurements are obtained as a gold standard. Experiments applied to phantoms and real CL wounds suggest that the proposed 3D assessment tool provides higher accuracy (error <;2%) and precision rates (error <;4%) than conventional manual methods (precision error <; 35%). This 3D assessment tool provides high accuracy metrics which deserve more formal prospective study.
Evaluation of Ontologies and Ontology-based tools Workshop

Watson is a gateway to the Semantic Web: it collects, analyzes and gives access to ontologies and semantic data available online with the objective of supporting their dynamic exploitation by semantic applications. We report on the analysis of 25 500 ontologies and semantic documents collected by Watson, giving an account about the way semantic technologies are used to publish knowledge on the Web, about the characteristics of the published knowledge, and about the networked aspects of the Semantic Web. Our main conclusions are 1that the Semantic Web is characterized by a large number of small, lightweight ontologies and a small number of large-scale, heavyweight ontologies, and 2that important efforts still need to be spent on improving the published ontologies (coverage of different topic domains, connectedness of the semantic data, etc.) and the tools that produce and manipulate
The human homologue of the mouse t‐complex gene, TCP1, is located on chromosome 6 but is not near the HLA region.

Southern blot analysis indicates that there are four sequences in the human genome related to the mouse t‐complex gene Tcp‐1. All four genes were cloned and partial sequencing showed that one of them was a functional gene, and the other three were pseudogenes. The human sequences were all approximately 90% related to each other and 82‐89% related to the mouse Tcp‐1a sequence. Human TCP1 cDNA clones from both fibrosarcoma and B cell lines confirmed that there was a single expressed gene. mRNA transcripts of different sizes were accounted for by two different polyadenylation signals. The human TCP1 gene shared some amino acid substitutions with the mouse t‐complex allele (Tcp‐1a) which were not found in Tcp‐1b. The functional human TCP1 gene was mapped, using a panel of somatic cell hybrids, as well as in situ analysis, to the long arm of chromosome 6 at 6q23‐qter and thus is not closely linked to the HLA complex on the short arm. For this reason and others it is unlikely that there is a human equivalent of the mouse t‐complex.
Wave transmission characteristics for higher-order sandwich panel with flexible core using time-domain spectral element method

A new time-domain spectral element with nine degrees of freedom per node is formulated based on higher-order sandwich panel theory, incorporating the flexible behaviour of the core with composite face sheets. Static, free vibrations and wave propagation analysis are carried out using the formulated element. Results obtained using this element are compared with those available in the literature and with commercial finite element codes. The fast convergence of the spectral element method is demonstrated by solving the high-frequency wave propagation problem. A method of computing the wave characteristics, namely wavenumbers and group velocities, in a higher-order sandwich panel is developed using the formulated element. The effect of core damping is studied in detail with different core types, which can be used effectively in sandwich beam design.
The genetic bases of divergence in desiccation and starvation resistance among tropical and temperate populations of Drosophila melanogaster

Desiccation and starvation resistance are two stress-related traits which vary geographically with climate in Drosophila melanogaster. To investigate the contribution of epistasis to population divergence for these traits, we crossed tropical and temperate populations from two different geographical regions to produce F1, F2 and first backcross generations. Line-cross analysis of generation means revealed that genetic bases of divergence for both traits were complex and remarkably similar in a number of respects. Strong additive and dominance effects were present in most of the models, whereas epistatic and maternal effects were less common. The presence of epistatic effects in approximately half of the models presented in this study is consistent with line-cross studies of diverged traits in other animals, and does not support the view that epistasis is the predominant means by which populations diverge. In addition, evidence of maternal effects in both traits adds to a growing body of recent evidence that suggests maternal contributions to population differentiation are more widespread than previously thought. This finding undermines the accuracy of studies inferring epistasis directly from the magnitude of F2 breakdown. More line-cross analysis studies of naturally diverged populations that take into account maternal effects will shed further light on the true incidence of epistasis and its importance in the evolutionary process.
To Operate or Not: Prediction of 3-Month Postoperative Mortality in Geriatric Cancer Patients

Context: Appropriate selection of aging patient who fit for cancer surgery is an art-of-state. Objectives: This study aimed to identify predictive factors pertinent to 3-month postoperative mortality in geriatric cancer patients. Methods: A total of 8,425 patients over 70 years old with solid cancer received radical surgery between 2007 and 2012 at four affiliated hospitals of the Chang Gung Memorial Hospital were included. The clinical variables of patients who died within 3 months post-surgery were analyzed retrospectively. Recursive partitioning analysis (RPA) was performed by randomly selecting 50% of the patients (testing set) to identify specific groups of patients with the lowest and highest probability of 3-month postoperative mortality. The remaining 50% were used as validation set of the model. Results: Patients' gender, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance (ECOG scale), Charlson comorbidity index (CCI), American Society of Anesthesiologist physical status, age, tumor staging, and mode of admission were independent variables that predicted 3-month postoperative mortality. The RPA model identified patients with an ECOG scale of 0-2, localized tumor stage, and a CCI of 0-2 as having the lowest probability of 3-month postoperative mortality (1.1% and 1.3% in the testing set and validation set, respectively). Conversely, an ECOG scale of 3-4 and a CCI >2 were associated with the highest probability of 3-month postoperative mortality (55.2% and 47.8% in the testing set and validation set, respectively). Conclusion: We identified ECOG scale and CCI score were the two most influencing factors that determined 3-month postoperative mortality in geriatric cancer patients.
Blind Parameter Estimation of GFDM Signals Over Frequency-Selective Fading Channels

In this paper, we investigate parameter estimation for generalized frequency division multiplexing (GFDM) signals over frequency-selective fading channels. Based on the characteristics of the second-order cyclostationary statistics of GFDM signals, we develop algorithms to blindly estimate pure block duration, overall block duration, symbol duration, and number of subcarriers. The proposed algorithms are robust to timing, phase, and carrier frequency uncertainties and do not require any a priori knowledge of the received signal. Simulation results verify the feasibility of the proposed algorithms.
A harmonic rejection mixer for cognitive radio application

For cognitive radio application, a harmonic rejection mixer (HRM) with current mirror amplifier is proposed. In the proposed HRM, gain ratio can be set accurately using the current mirror amplifier to achieve high harmonic rejection ratio without mismatch calibration circuits. Furthermore, a harmonic rejection ratio of the HRM is immune to a supply voltage, temperature, and process variation. The HRM can be designed at a lower supply voltage compared to a conventional HRM due to a folded switching stage. The HRM is designed in 0.13 μm CMOS process. A third and fifth-order harmonic rejection ratio of the proposed HRM are 52.6 and 50.8 dB. The harmonic rejection mixer consumes 11.5 mA from 1.5 V supply voltage.
Insecticide susceptibility of Anopheles coluzzii and Anopheles gambiae mosquitoes in Ibadan, Southwest Nigeria

The emergence of insecticide resistance in Anopheles (Diptera: Culicidae) mosquitoes has great implications for malaria control in Nigeria. This study aimed to determine the dynamics of insecticide susceptibility levels and the frequency of knock‐down resistance (kdr) mutations (L1014F) in wild Anopheles coluzzii Coetzee & Wilkerson sp. n. and Anopheles gambiae Giles from the Ojoo and Bodija areas of Ibadan, in southwest Nigeria. Insecticide susceptibility to pyrethroids, organophosphates, carbamates and organochlorines was assessed using World Health Organization (WHO) bioassays. A subset of the mosquitoes exposed to pyrethroids and DDT was used for species and molecular form identification; kdr genotyping was determined using the TaqMan real‐time polymerase chain reaction assay. The mosquitoes were resistant to pyrethroids and DDT but completely susceptible to organophosphates and carbamates. Bodija samples (n = 186) consisted of An. gambiae (91.4%) and An. coluzzii (8.1%) and included one An. coluzzii/An. gambiae hybrid specimen. All mosquitoes screened in Ojoo (n = 26) were An. gambiae. The 1014F kdr mutation was detected at frequencies of 24.5 and 5.8% in Bodija and Ojoo, respectively. No correlation was observed between kdr genotypes and resistance phenotypes. The results indicate that metabolic resistance probably plays an important role in the development of resistance and highlight the need to implement insecticide resistance management strategies.
Planning Non-Entangling Paths for Tethered Underwater Robots Using Simulated Annealing

In this paper we present a simulated annealingbased method for planning efficient paths with a tether which avoid entanglement in an obstacle-filled environment. By evaluating total path cost as a function of both path length and entanglements, a robot can plan a path through multiple points of interest while avoiding becoming entangled in any obstacle. In simulated trials, the robot was able to successfully plan non-entangling paths in an obstacle-filled environment. These results were then validated in pool trials on a SeaBotix vLVB300 underwater vehicle.
Building Decision Trees on Records Linked through Key References

We consider the classification problem where the data is given by a collection of tables related by a hierarchical structure of key references and class labels contained in the root table. Each parent table represents a many-to-many relationship type among its child tables. Such data are frequently found in relational databases, data warehouses, XML data, and biological databases. One solution is joining all tables into a universal table based on the recorded relationships, but it suffers from a significant blowup caused by many-to-many relationships. Another solution is treating the problem as relational learning, at the cost of increased complexity and degraded performance. We propose a novel method that builds exactly the same decision tree classifier as built from the joined table, but not the blowup required in the traditional approach.
On Labeling Quality in Business Process Models

Quality assurance is a serious issue for large-scale process modeling initiatives. While formal control flow analysis has been extensively studied in prior research, there is a little work on how the textual content of a process model and its activity labels can be systematically analyzed. It is a major challenge to classify labels according to their quality and consequently assure high label quality. As a starting point we take a recent research on the activity labeling style, which establishes superiority of a so-called verb-object labeling style. Together with the labeling style, the length of an activity label is related to its quality. In this paper, we investigate how various natural language processing techniques, e.g., part of speech tagging and analysis of phrase grammatical structure, can be used to detect an activity labeling style in an automatic fashion. We also study how ontologies, like WordNet, can support the solution. We conduct a thorough evaluation of the developed techniques utilizing about 20,000 activity labels from the SAP Reference Model.
Robust suppression of nonstationary power-line interference in electrocardiogram signals

It is a challenge to suppress time-varying power-line interference (PLI) with various levels in electrocardiogram (ECG) signals. Most previous attempts of tracking and suppressing the nonstationary PLI signal are based on the least-squares (LS) algorithm. This makes these methods susceptible to QRS complex in suppressing a low-level PLI signal which is frequently coupled in battery-operated ECG equipment. To address the limitation of LS-based methods, this study presents a robust PLI suppression system based on a robust extension of the Kalman filter. In addition, we used an improved version of empirical mode decomposition to further attenuate the QRS complex. Experiments show that our system could effectively suppress the PLI while preserving meaningful ECG components at various interference levels.
A Diffusion Model Analysis of Magnitude Comparison in Children with and without Dyscalculia: Care of Response and Ability Are Related to Both Mathematical Achievement and Stimuli

The respective roles of the approximate number system (ANS) and an access deficit (AD) in developmental dyscalculia (DD) are not well-known. Most studies rely on response times (RTs) or accuracy (error rates) separately. We analyzed the results of two samples of elementary school children in symbolic magnitude comparison (MC) and non-symbolic MC using a diffusion model. This approach uses the joint distribution of both RTs and accuracy in order to synthesize measures closer to ability and response caution or response conservatism. The latter can be understood in the context of the speed-accuracy tradeoff: It expresses how much a subject trades in speed for improved accuracy. We found significant effects of DD on both ability (negative) and response caution (positive) in MC tasks and a negative interaction of DD with symbolic task material on ability. These results support that DD subjects suffer from both an impaired ANS and an AD and in particular support that slower RTs of children with DD are indeed related to impaired processing of numerical information. An interaction effect of symbolic task material and DD (low mathematical ability) on response caution could not be refuted. However, in a sample more representative of the general population we found a negative association of mathematical ability and response caution in symbolic but not in non-symbolic task material. The observed differences in response behavior highlight the importance of accounting for response caution in the analysis of MC tasks. The results as a whole present a good example of the benefits of a diffusion model analysis.
Instrumentation for quantitative fluorescence microscopy

The aim of this study is to demonstrate the technical requirements and performance of fluorescent quantization using image analysis. The quality of fluorescent measurements is largely dependent on the characteristics of instrumentation: fluorescence microscope, low light level camera, fluorescence standard reference, and protocols for image acquisition and measurements calibration. This study is focused on the problem of the efficiency of microscope and low light level cameras. Various types of cameras are tested (SIT C2400-08, intensified CCD C2400-80, and cooled CCD C4880 from Hamamatsu) with respect to stability, linearity, and shading properties. Results show that evaluation of fluorescent instrumentation cannot be reduced to the evaluation of camera properties, the intrinsic evaluation of the fluorescent sample has to be considered as well. Moreover, this work demonstrates the deficiency of usual corrective protocols to lead to reliable quantitative fluorescence analysis.
The Role of Natural Killer (NK) Cells and NK Cell Receptor Polymorphisms in the Assessment of HIV-1 Neutralization

The importance of innate immune cells in HIV-1 pathogenesis and protection has been highlighted by the role of natural killer (NK) cells in the containment of viral replication. Use of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in immunologic studies provides both HIV-1 target cells (ie. CD4+ T cells), as well as anti-HIV-1 effector cells, such as NK cells. In this study, NK and other immune cell populations were analyzed in HIV-negative donor PBMC for an impact on the anti-HIV activity of polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies. NK cell percentages were significantly higher in donor PBMC that supported lower levels of viral replication. While the percentage of NK cells was not directly associated with neutralization titers, NK cell-depletion significantly diminished the antiviral antibody activity by up to three logs, and polymorphisms in NK killer immunoglobulin receptor (KIR) and FcγRIIIa alleles appear to be associated with this affect. These findings demonstrate that NK cells and NK cell receptor polymorphisms may influence assessment of traditional HIV-1 neutralization in a platform where antibody is continuously present. This format appears to simultaneously assess conventional entry inhibition (neutralization) and non-neutralizing antibody-dependent HIV inhibition, which may provide the opportunity to delineate the dominant antibody function(s) in polyclonal vaccine responses.
Recombinant Bivalent Fusion Protein rVE Induces CD4+ and CD8+ T-Cell Mediated Memory Immune Response for Protection Against Yersinia enterocolitica Infection

Studies investigating the correlates of immune protection against Yersinia infection have established that both humoral and cell mediated immune responses are required for the comprehensive protection. In our previous study, we established that the bivalent fusion protein (rVE) comprising immunologically active regions of Y. pestis LcrV (100–270 aa) and YopE (50–213 aa) proteins conferred complete passive and active protection against lethal Y. enterocolitica 8081 challenge. In the present study, cohort of BALB/c mice immunized with rVE or its component proteins rV, rE were assessed for cell mediated immune responses and memory immune protection against Y. enterocolitica 8081. rVE immunization resulted in extensive proliferation of both CD4 and CD8 T cell subsets; significantly high antibody titer with balanced IgG1: IgG2a/IgG2b isotypes (1:1 ratio) and up-regulation of both Th1 (TNF-α, IFN-γ, IL-2, and IL-12) and Th2 (IL-4) cytokines. On the other hand, rV immunization resulted in Th2 biased IgG response (11:1 ratio) and proliferation of CD4+ T-cell; rE group of mice exhibited considerably lower serum antibody titer with predominant Th1 response (1:3 ratio) and CD8+ T-cell proliferation. Comprehensive protection with superior survival (100%) was observed among rVE immunized mice when compared to the significantly lower survival rates among rE (37.5%) and rV (25%) groups when IP challenged with Y. enterocolitica 8081 after 120 days of immunization. Findings in this and our earlier studies define the bivalent fusion protein rVE as a potent candidate vaccine molecule with the capability to concurrently stimulate humoral and cell mediated immune responses and a proof of concept for developing efficient subunit vaccines against Gram negative facultative intracellular bacterial pathogens.
The Relationship of the Information Technology Applications, Strategic Partnerships, and Firm Performance in Logistics Industry in Taiwan

—With the big change of the commercial environment, Taiwanese logistics firms should application new information technology for benefits and improve the efficiency of logistics management. For improve the partnership and efficiency, Taiwanese logistics firms should pay attention to the compatibility information system and information sharing. This study focused on 206 logistics firm that included ocean shipping services, air cargo services, land transportation services, and integrated logistics services in Taiwan. The main research methodology in this study was second order confirmatory factor analysis with structural equation model for information technology applications, strategic partnerships, and firm performance. With the result, it could find that information technology applications in logistics industry in Taiwan is positive with firm performance, information technology applications in logistics industry in Taiwan is positive with strategic partnerships, and strategic partnerships is positive with firm performance. Taiwanese logistics firm should focus on information sharing and compatibility of information technology applications. Besides, value sharing and relationship continued ideal was helpful in improve strategic partnerships in Taiwanese logistics industry.
Functional cis‐expression of phaCAB genes for poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate) production by Escherichia coli

Aims: To develop a microbial strain producing poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate) [P(3HB)], in the absence of antibiotic supplementation (normally required to stabilize a recombinant plasmid), by constructing a recombinant Escherichia coli strain with phaCAB and vgb integrated into the chromosome.