Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
3D Dynamic Culture of Rabbit Articular Chondrocytes Encapsulated in Alginate Gel Beads Using Spinner Flasks for Cartilage Tissue Regeneration

Cell-based therapy using chondrocytes for cartilage repair suffers from chondrocyte dedifferentiation. In the present study, the effects of an integrated three-dimensional and dynamic culture on rabbit articular chondrocytes were investigated. Cells (passages 1 and 4) were encapsulated in alginate gel beads and cultured in spinner flasks in chondrogenic and chondrocyte growth media. Subcutaneous implantation of the cell-laden beads was performed to evaluate the ectopic chondrogenesis. It was found that cells remained viable after 35 days in the three-dimensional dynamic culture. Passage 1 cells demonstrated a proliferative growth in both media. Passage 4 cells showed a gradual reduction in DNA content in growth medium, which was attenuated in chondrogenic medium. Deposition of glycosaminoglycans (GAG) was found in all cultures. While passage 1 cells generally produced higher amounts of GAG than passage 4 cells, GAG/DNA became similar on day 35 for both cells in growth media. Interestingly, GAG/DNA in growth medium was greater than that in chondrogenic medium for both cells. Based on GAG quantification and gene expression analysis, encapsulated passage 1 cells cultured in growth medium displayed the best ectopic chondrogenesis. Taken together, the three-dimensional and dynamic culture for chondrocytes holds great potential in cartilage regeneration.
Framework specialization aspects

Object-oriented frameworks play an important role in different kinds of software, such as product-lines, middleware, GUI components, IDEs, etc. Over the past recent years, fundamentals of framework design stabilized around the adoption of design patterns. However, major difficulties concerning framework learning and usage are still evident, and constitute a burden for those who have to deal with it. This paper proposes an approach that aims to facilitate framework usage, based on the concept of specialization aspect. We show how framework hot-spots can be modularized in terms of specialization aspects, and how these can give support for specializing a framework in a step-wise way. The approach is conservative, in the sense that specialization aspects can be developed for an existing framework "as is". In order to support these claims, a case study has been carried out by applying the technique on the JHotDraw graphical framework.
Identification en ligne avec régularisation L1. Algorithme et analyse de convergence en environnement non-stationnaire

This paper presents an online system identification method with L1-norm regularization. Convergence analysis is performed for non-stationary environments. This work is a significant extension of the non-negative LMS in both aspects of algorithm derivation and convergence analysis. According to its performance and computational cost, the proposed algorithm performs similarly as the LMS algorithm but incorporates L1-regularization. Experiments validate the proposed algorithm and its convergence analysis
The trend growth rate of employment: past, present, and future

The progressive globalization of markets has sparked a worldwide interest in using economic indicators to analyze cyclical fluctuations. Governments and the private sector seeking to conduct their activities in light of both national and international economic conditions could benefit from international indicators that serve as a warning system to detect recessions in major economic partners and in industrialized countries as a whole. ; This article constructs just such a warning system. Using a Markov-switching dynamic factor model with a self-adjusting variable-bandwidth filter, the authors construct business cycle indicators for G7 countries and for an aggregate measure of output by twenty-nine member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The model yields probabilities of the current business cycle phase for each G7 country and for the aggregate OECD and G7 output measures and reveals a common cycle underlying the OECD countries that characterizes an international business cycle. ; The proposed filter sorts out minor contractions and estimates only major economic recessions and expansions, thereby minimizing the occurrence of false turning points. This quality is especially important for central banks that may want to adjust monetary policy only in the event of major recessions affecting a broad set of economic sectors.
Membrane Fusion Induced by Small Molecules and Ions

Membrane fusion is a key event in many biological processes. These processes are controlled by various fusogenic agents of which proteins and peptides from the principal group. The fusion process is characterized by three major steps, namely, inter membrane contact, lipid mixing forming the intermediate step, pore opening and finally mixing of inner contents of the cells/vesicles. These steps are governed by energy barriers, which need to be overcome to complete fusion. Structural reorganization of big molecules like proteins/peptides, supplies the required driving force to overcome the energy barrier of the different intermediate steps. Small molecules/ions do not share this advantage. Hence fusion induced by small molecules/ions is expected to be different from that induced by proteins/peptides. Although several reviews exist on membrane fusion, no recent review is devoted solely to small moleculs/ions induced membrane fusion. Here we intend to present, how a variety of small molecules/ions act as independent fusogens. The detailed mechanism of some are well understood but for many it is still an unanswered question. Clearer understanding of how a particular small molecule can control fusion will open up a vista to use these moleucles instead of proteins/peptides to induce fusion both in vivo and in vitro fusion processes.
Norming to Performing: Failure Analysis and Deployment Automation of Big Data Software Developed by Highly Iterative Models

We observe many interesting failure characteristics from Big Data software developed and released using some kinds of highly iterative development models (e.g., Agile). ~16% of failures occur due to faults in software deployments (e.g., Packaging and pushing to production). Our analysis shows that many such production outages are at least partially due to some human errors rooted in the high frequency and complexity of software deployments. ~51% of the observed human errors (e.g., Tran-Scription, education, and communication error types) are avoidable through automation. We thus develop a fault-tolerant automation framework to make it efficient to automate end-to-end software deployment procedures. We apply the framework to two Big Data products. Our case studies show the complexity of the deployment procedures of multi-homed Big Data applications and help us to study the effectiveness of the validation and verification techniques for user-provided automation programs. We analyze the production failures of the two products again after the automation. Our experimental data shows how the automation and the associated procedure improvements reduce the deployment faults and overall failure rate, and improve the feature launch velocity. Automation facilitates more formal, procedure-driven software engineering practices which not only reduce the manual work and human-oriented, avoidable production outages but also help engineers to better understand overall software engineering procedures, making them more auditable, predictable, reliable, and efficient. We discuss two novel metrics to evaluate progress in mitigating human errors and the conditions indicating points to start such transition from owner-driven deployment practice.
Antibacterial activity of four mouthrinses containing triclosan against salivary Staphylococcus aureus

The maximum inhibitory dilution (MID) of triclosan-based mouthwashes against 28 Staphylococcus aureus strains was evaluated. Dilutions ranging from 1/10 to 1/655,360 were prepared. Strains were inoculated using a Steers multipoint inoculator. The MID was considered as the maximum dilution capable of inhibiting microorganism growth. The mouthwashes presented different MIDs.
Transarterial treatment with Onyx of Cognard type IV anterior cranial fossa dural arteriovenous fistulas

Background and purpose Cognard type IV anterior cranial fossa dural arteriovenous fistulas (DAVFs) are rare lesions with a high risk of intracranial hemorrhage. We present our experience with the use of Onyx via the arterial route in these aggressive lesions. Materials and methods Between October 2009 and October 2011, six consecutive patients diagnosed with Cognard type IV anterior cranial fossa DAVFs were treated transarterially with Onyx in our department. All patients were male; mean age was 55 years (range 38–68). Four patients presented with intracranial hemorrhage as the initial manifestation; one patient presented with seizures at the time of diagnosis and experienced intracranial hemorrhage during the antiepileptic therapy; and the other patient was asymptomatic. Results In five patients, complete obliteration was achieved with transarterial Onyx injection in a single treatment session; in the remaining patient, subtotal occlusion was achieved and gamma knife treatment was followed. The average time of injection was 19 min (range 5–28) for every pedicle catheterized and the average amount of Onyx was 3.2 ml (range 0.4–6.3) for each lesion. All patients recovered uneventfully after embolization. No mortality or permanent morbidity was observed in this series. Follow-up digital subtraction or MR angiography confirmed durable obliteration of the fistulas in five cured cases. No patients suffered intracranial hemorrhage during the follow-up period. Conclusions In this small series, our experience with the use of Onyx for arterial embolization of Cognard type IV DAVFs is encouraging, with durable complete cure in most lesions without severe complications.
Scalable Multiple Description Coding and Distributed Video Streaming over 3G Mobile Networks

ii I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. iii Abstract In this thesis, a novel Scalable Multiple Description Coding (SMDC) framework is proposed. To address the bandwidth fluctuation, packet loss and heterogeneity problems in the wireless networks and further enhance the error resilience tools in Moving Pictures Experts Group 4 (MPEG-4), the joint design of layered c oding (LC) and multiple description coding (MDC) is explored. It leverages a proposed distributed multimedia delivery mobile network (D-MDMN) to provide path diversity to combat streaming video outage due to handoff in Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS). The corresponding intra-RAN (Radio Access Network) handoff and inter-RAN handoff procedures in D-MDMN are studied in details, which employ the principle of video stream re-establishing to replace the principle of data forwarding in UMTS. Furthermore, a new IP (Internet Protocol) Differentiated Services (DiffServ) video marking algorithm is proposed to support the unequal error protection (UEP) of LC components of SMDC. Performance evaluation is carried through simulation using OPNET Modeler 9.0. Simulation results show that the proposed handoff procedures in D-MDMN have better performance in terms of handoff latency, end-to-end delay and handoff scalability than that in UMTS. Performance evaluation of our proposed IP DiffServ video marking algorithm is also undertaken, which shows that it is more suitable for video streaming in IP mobile networks compared with the DiffServ video marking algorithm (DVMA) proposed in [71] [72]. iv Acknowledgements
A Posteriori Error Bounds for Krylov-Based Fast Frequency Sweeps of Finite-Element Systems

Projection-based model reduction is a well-established methodology for computing fast frequency sweeps of finite-element (FE) approximations to passive microwave structures. This contribution presents a novel provable error bound for moment-matching reduced-order models of lossless systems. It improves over existing methods by increasing the accuracy of the estimate and by reducing numerical costs. Numerical studies demonstrate the benefits of the suggested approach.
Can online trading algorithms beat the market? An experimental evaluation

From experimental evaluation, we reasonably infer that online trading algorithms can beat the market. We consider the scenario of trading in financial market and present an extensive experimental study to answer the question "Can online trading algorithms beat the market? ". We evaluate the selected set of online trading algorithms on DAX30 and measure the performance against buy-and-hold strategy. In order to compute the experimentally achieved competitive ratio, we also compare the set of algorithms against an optimum offline algorithm. To add further dimensionality into experimental setup, we use trading periods of various lengths and apply a number of evaluation criteria (such as annualized geometric returns, average period returns and experimentally achieved competitive ratio) to measure the performance of algorithms in short vs. Long term investment decisions. We highlight the best and worst performing algorithms and discuss the possible reasons for the performance behavior of algorithms.
Service-Oriented Migration and Reuse Technique (SMART)

This report describes the service-oriented migration and reuse technique (SMART). SMART is a technique that helps organizations analyze legacy systems to determine whether their functionality, or subsets of it, can be reasonably exposed as services in a service-oriented architecture (SOA), and thus to achieve greater interoperability. Converting legacy components to services allows systems to remain largely unchanged while exposing functionality to a large number of clients through well-defined service interfaces. A number of organizations are adopting this approach by defining SOAs that include a set of infrastructure common services on which organizations can build additional domain services or applications. SMART considers the specific interactions that will be required by the target SOA and any changes that must be made to the legacy components. An early version of SMART was applied with good success to assist a DoD organization in evaluating the potential for converting components of an existing system into services that would run in a new and tightly constrained SOA environment
Lateral gene exchanges shape the genomes of amoeba-resisting microorganisms

Based on Darwin's concept of the tree of life, vertical inheritance was thought to be dominant, and mutations, deletions, and duplication were streaming the genomes of living organisms. In the current genomic era, increasing data indicated that both vertical and lateral gene inheritance interact in space and time to trigger genome evolution, particularly among microorganisms sharing a given ecological niche. As a paradigm to their diversity and their survival in a variety of cell types, intracellular microorganisms, and notably intracellular bacteria, were considered as less prone to lateral genetic exchanges. Such specialized microorganisms generally have a smaller gene repertoire because they do rely on their host's factors for some basic regulatory and metabolic functions. Here we review events of lateral gene transfer (LGT) that illustrate the genetic exchanges among intra-amoebal microorganisms or between the microorganism and its amoebal host. We tentatively investigate the functions of laterally transferred genes in the light of the interaction with their host as they should confer a selective advantage and success to the amoeba-resisting microorganisms (ARMs).
Stationary balance control of a bikebot

We present the development of the gyroscopic-balanced control of an autonomous bikebot. The bikebot is an actively controlled bicycle-based robotic platform with a gyro-balancer developed to study human dynamic postural balance motor skills through unstable physical human-robot interactions. We also present a dynamic model and analysis for stationary bikebot. A nonlinear balancing controller is designed to stabilize the underactuated stationary bikebot on an orbital trajectory around the unstable equilibrium point that is coupled with another orbit of the actuated gyro-balancer. We then demonstrate the analysis and control design with experimental validations. Finally, we present a set of human riding experiments to show how the bikebot can be used to perturb and excite human sensorimotor feedback loop for dynamic postural balance motor skills.
Analysis of two-point statistics of cosmic shear - I. Estimators and covariances

Recently, cosmic shear, the weak lensing effect by the inhomogeneous matter distribution in the Universe, has not only been detected by several groups, but the observational results have been used to derive constraints on cosmological parameters. For this purpose, several cosmic shear statistics have been employed. As shown recently, all second-order statistical measures can be expressed in terms of the two-point correlation functions of the shear, which thus represents the basic quantity; also, from a practical point-of-view, the two-point correlation functions are easiest to obtain from observational data which typically have complicated geometry. We derive in this paper expressions for the covariance matrix of the cosmic shear two- point correlation functions which are readily applied to any survey geometry. Furthermore, we consider the more special case of a simple survey geometry which allows us to obtain approximations for the covariance matrix in terms of integrals which are readily evaluated numerically. These results are then used to study the covariance of the aperture mass dispersion which has been employed earlier in quantitative cosmic shear analyses. We show that the aperture mass dispersion, measured at two different angular scales, quickly decorrelates with the ratio of the scales. Inverting the relation between the shear two-point correlation functions and the power spectrum of the underlying projected matter distribution, we construct estimators for the power spectrum and for the band powers, and show that they yields accurate approximations; in particular, the correlation between band powers at different wave numbers is quite weak. The covariance matrix of the shear correlation function is then used to investigate the expected accuracy of cosmological parameter estimates from cosmic shear surveys. Depending on the use of prior information, e.g. from CMB measurements, cosmic shear can yield very accurate determinations of several cosmological parameters, in particular the normalization σ8 of the power spectrum of the matter distribution, the matter density parameter Ωm, and the shape parameter Γ.
On-Line Graph Searching by a Smell-Oriented Vertex Process

An ant walks along the edges of a graph G, occ~sionMly leaving pheromone traces at vertices, and using those traces to guide its exploration. We show that the ant can cover the graph within time O(nd) where n is the number of vertices and d the diameter of G. The use of traces achieves a tradeoff between random and self-avoiding walks, as it can give lower priority to already visited neighbors. A I-I~miitonian cycle in G, if one exists, is a limit cycle of the smell directed graph exploration process.
Reclaiming and re-embodying experiential learning through complexity science

Abstract At a time when ‘informal’ and ‘practice-based’ learning are receiving unprecedented emphasis in lifelong learning debates, this article offers an apologia for experiential learning (EL) in adult education. Taking the position that the signifier of experience allows a foregrounding of the problematics of experience and the centrality of embodiment in learning, the argument does not deny theoretical weaknesses plaguing the experiential learning discourse. In fact, four problems are described in EL theory and practice: ontological splits that ‘lose’ the body; disciplines that control the body; educational management that schools experience; and resulting exclusions. Towards reclaiming a more productive discourse of EL, an argument is presented for conceptually ‘re-embodying’ EL, drawing from complexity science. Three themes of re-embodiment (co-emergence, desire, and struggle) are presented. Pedagogic practices and reconfigured roles for adult educators suggested by these themes are discussed in the final section.
DABISR: A Defect-Aware Built-In Self-Repair Scheme for Single/Multi-Port RAMs in SoCs

Built-in self-repair (BISR) techniques are widely used to enhance the yield of embedded random access memories (RAMs). Fault-location ability of test algorithms executed by a BISR circuit has heavy impact on the repair efficiency of the BISR circuit. This paper proposes a defect-aware BISR (DABISR) scheme for single-port RAMs (SPRAMs) and multi-port RAMs (MPRAMs) in system chips. Multiple RAMs can share a DABISR such that the area cost of DABISR is drastically reduced. We also present two defect-location algorithms (DLAs) for identification of bridge defects between word-lines and bit-lines of MPRAMs. The DABISR can perform DLAs to locate bridge defects such that it can provide high repair efficiency. For example, simulation results show that if a faulty two-port RAM has 20% inter-port faults, the DLAs can help to gain 8.4-14.4% increase of repair rate for different redundancy configurations. In comparison with an existing shared BISR scheme, however, the DABISR only incurs about 0.34% additional area overhead to support the function of DLAs.
Longitudinal Study of Genetic Influences on ERP-P3 During Childhood

The P3, a component of the event‐related potential, is an electrophysiological reaction of the brain to an event. It has been extensively studied as an index of attentional and memory processes in humans, and the substantial individual variation in its amplitude and latency has been related to individual differences in cognitive function and ability. Little is known about the relative contributions of genetic and environmental influences to the individual differences in this event‐related potential component. Furthermore, it is unclear whether and how these influences vary during maturation in childhood. In this study, P3 was measured twice in 164 young twin pairs, once at age 5, and once at age 7. Participants performed a visual oddball task with 100 nontarget and 25 target stimuli. P3 amplitudes and latencies were obtained at 6 scalp locations (C3, Cz, C4, P3, Pz, and P4). Results show an effect of age (smaller amplitudes and shorter latencies at age 7 than at age 5), stimulus type (larger amplitudes an.
Face-to-Face Collaborative Interfaces 1

The presentation of information as a large display and the use of such displays to support collaboration in face-to-face activities have long been commonplace. Computationally enhanced displays relying on the form factor of whiteboards, surfaces, tables, benches, and desks now afford face-to-face computer-supported interaction and collaboration not possible with classical desktop or mobile computing. This chapter provides an introduction to research and developments in multitouch input technologies that can be used to realize large interactive tabletop or “surface user interfaces. ” Such hardware systems, along with supporting software, allow for applications that can be controlled through direct touch or multitouch. Further, a review of gestural interactions and design guidelines for surface user interface design for collaboration is also provided. © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 3