Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Liposome-Encapsulated Hemoglobin Ameliorates Ischemic Stroke in Nonhuman Primates: An Acute Study

An artificial oxygen carrier, liposome-encapsulated hemoglobin (LEH), protective in a rodent stroke model, was quantitatively evaluated in monkeys. Serial positron emission tomography studies using the steady-state 15O-gas inhalation method were performed to quantify O2 metabolism, which was compared based on the infarction extent and immunohistochemical evaluation in 19 monkeys undergoing middle cerebral artery occlusion (3 h), infusion of various LEH doses (n = 11), empty liposome (n = 4), or saline (n = 4) 5 min after the onset of ischemia, and reperfusion for 5 h. There was no significant difference in O2 metabolism until 3 h after reperfusion, when the cerebral metabolic rate of O2 (CMRO2) was significantly less suppressed in the cortex [mild suppression in CMRO2 (71–100%) of preischemic ipsilateral control as in the ischemic penumbra: 64.7 ± 14.3% in empty liposome versus 32.4 ± 7.9% in LEH (2 ml/kg) treatment, P < 0.05] but not in basal ganglia. Immunohistochemical studies showed a reciprocal expression of microtubular-associated protein II expression in the cortex and LEH deposition in basal ganglia, suggesting the LEH perfusion, but not deposition, afforded the protection. Dose-response studies revealed that as little as 0.4 ml/kg LEH (24 mg/kg hemoglobin) was effective in preserving CMRO2, whereas 2 and 10 ml/kg were protective in significantly reducing the area of infarction as well, by 66 and 56%, respectively, compared with animals receiving saline. CMRO2 and histological integrity were better preserved early after 3-h occlusion and reperfusion of the middle cerebral artery of monkeys receiving LEH early after onset of ischemia.
3D modeling of acoustofluidics in a liquid-filled cavity including streaming, viscous boundary layers, surrounding solids, and a piezoelectric transducer

We present a full 3D numerical simulation of the acoustic streaming observed in full-image micro-particle velocimetry by Hagsater et al., Lab Chip 7, 1336 (2007) in a 2 mm by 2 mm by 0.2 mm microcavity embedded in a 49 mm by 15 mm by 2 mm chip excited by 2-MHz ultrasound. The model takes into account the piezo-electric transducer, the silicon base with the water-filled cavity, the viscous boundary layers in the water, and the Pyrex lid. The model predicts well the experimental results.
Rabbit oral papillomatosis: ultrastructure of experimental infection.

Summary Oral papillomatosis of the rabbit was produced by experimental inoculation with tissue homogenates, its course of development being studied by gross observation and electron microscopy. Prior to the formation of a definite papilloma, the inoculation site was edematous and no virus could be demonstrated. Gross evidence of a well-defined tumor coincided with the finding of the virus at 14 days postinoculation. After 28 days, signs of regression of the tumor were noted. At the termination of the experiment, which was 100 days postinoculation, the tumor was small and less well defined; although regression was pronounced, the virus was still demonstrable. The well-developed tumors of experimentally infected rabbits appeared the same, and the ultrastructure was similar in all respects to the naturally occurring rabbit oral papillomatosis.
How Often Does Sympatry Affect Sexual Isolation in Drosophila?

In a seminal article and its follow-up, Coyne and Orr (1989, 1997) found greater prezygotic (primarily sexual) reproductive isolation in sympatric Drosophila species pairs than in allopatric pairs of similar genetic divergence. Several processes can explain this observed pattern. For example, natural selection could have strengthened the existing mating discrimination between sympatric species to reduce either maladaptive hybridization (Dobzhansky 1940) or interference of mate recognition signals (Howard 1993). Similarly, achieving stable sympatry may require a minimum level of prezygotic isolation, hence selecting for groups that are more sexually isolated (Templeton 1981). Ecological character displacement in sympatric populations can also produce prezygotic isolation as a correlated response (e.g., Dodd 1989; Rice and Salt 1990). For simplicity, I will refer to all of these processes jointly as ‘‘reinforcement. ’’ My use of this term refers solely to the pattern of greater prezygotic isolation among sympatric species and not to any particular process. Although the Coyne and Orr (1989, 1997) data sets clearly show that sympatry influences prezygotic isolation, the frequency with which interactions among sympatric taxa cause increases in prezygotic isolation is not clear. Some of the species included in their studies were used in multiple comparisons with other sympatric species. This practice could overestimate the number of independent reinforcement events for the following reason. Reinforcement, in the form of direct selection for mating discrimination, could occur by reducing the range of phenotypes acceptable as mates, perhaps by increasing the level of female discrimination (Ratcliffe and Grant 1983; Noor 1995a; Kelly and Noor 1996). This mode of reinforcement would fortuitously increase prezygotic isolation from all other species also. Hence, a single sympatric interaction might cause the appearance of numerous cases of reinforcement in studies that invoke multiple comparisons, such as those of Coyne and Orr. The comparative method may be used to estimate more accurately the fre-
Optimizing stem cell culture

Stem cells always balance between self‐renewal and differentiation. Hence, stem cell culture parameters are critical and need to be continuously refined according to progress in our stem cell biology understanding and the latest technological developments. In the past few years, major efforts have been made to define more precisely the medium composition in which stem cells grow or differentiate. This led to the progressive replacement of ill‐defined additives such as serum or feeder cell layers by recombinant cytokines or growth factors. Another example is the control of the oxygen pressure. For many years cell cultures have been done under atmospheric oxygen pressure which is much higher than the one experienced by stem cells in vivo. A consequence of cell metabolism is that cell culture conditions are constantly changing. Therefore, the development of high sensitive monitoring processes and control algorithms is required for ensuring cell culture medium homeostasis. Stem cells also sense the physical constraints of their microenvironment. Rigidity, stiffness, and geometry of the culture substrate influence stem cell fate. Hence, nanotopography is probably as important as medium formulation in the optimization of stem cell culture conditions. Recent advances include the development of synthetic bioinformative substrates designed at the micro‐ and nanoscale level. On going research in many different fields including stem cell biology, nanotechnology, and bioengineering suggest that our current way to culture cells in Petri dish or flasks will soon be outdated as flying across the Atlantic Ocean in the Lindbergh's plane. J. Cell. Biochem. 111: 801–807, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
18F-Fluoride PET/CT Scan for Quantification of Bone Metabolism in the Inner Ear in Patients With Otosclerosis—A Pilot Study

Background In otosclerosis, CT of the temporal bone is used to confirm the diagnosis. Whereas CT is a static diagnostic tool displaying the demineralization caused by otosclerosis, imaging of bone metabolism by 18F-fluoride PET may provide quantitative information. This could be useful for prognosis and stratification of patients. The aim of this study was to assess 18F-fluoride activity in patients with otosclerosis and to evaluate its use as a complementary diagnostic tool. Methods All patients with otosclerosis underwent a PET/CT scan. Audiometric data were collected. The severity of otosclerosis was assessed using a recognized radiological classification. The control group consisted of patients who had undergone 18F-fluoride PET/CT scan for orthopedic purpose. Regions of interest were drawn on PET scans which corresponded to standardized anatomical sites as defined on CT, to measure bone metabolism using standardized uptake values (SUVmax and SUVmean). Results Group 1 consisted of 11 otosclerosis patients (16 eligible temporal bones) and group 2 consisted of 5 control patients (10 temporal bones). On PET scan, visual assessment of temporal bones with otosclerosis showed increased metabolic activity in the otic capsule in 11/16 cases. The SUVmax in the entire otic capsule was significantly higher in otosclerosis patients compared to control subjects. Significant differences in SUVmean were found between otosclerosis and control subjects in the fenestral and saccule area. Moreover, metabolic activity in these regions significantly correlated with hearing loss and CT classification. Conclusions 18F-Fluoride PET scanning using SUV measurements has the potential to be a diagnostic tool in otosclerosis.
Multitaper estimation of the innovation variance of a stationary time series

Accurate computation of the innovation variance of a stationary time series by a nonparametric method provides useful information to judge the quality of fit of parametric models for the time series. Previous estimators of the innovation variance have made use of raw periodogram ordinates, smoothed periodogram ordinates, or periodogram ordinates following tapering. Smoothing provides more degrees of freedom at each frequency but fewer independent estimates, whereas tapering reduces side-lobe leakage if the dynamic range of the spectrum is high but produces only two degrees of freedom at each frequency. Here, we investigate estimation of innovation variance from finite sample sizes by the use of multiple tapering. The tapers are designed to reduce side-lobe leakage and produce increased degrees of freedom at each frequency. It is demonstrated that the multiple tapering approach produces much better estimates of the innovations variance than the other methods when the spectrum has a high dynamic range and/or is rapidly varying. The multitaper bandwidth parameter W may be selected using an obvious heuristic approach or by an automatic method. The multitaper method is hence an attractive alternative to conventional techniques. >
Scientific Authoring Support: A Tool to Navigate in Typed Citation Graphs

Scientific authors urgently need help in managing the fast increasing number of publications. We describe and demonstrate a tool that supports authors in browsing graphically through electronically available publications, thus allowing them to quickly adapt to new domains and publish faster. Navigation is assisted by means of typed citation graphs, i.e. we use methods and resources from computational linguistics to compute the kind of citation that is made from one paper to another (refutation, use, confirmation etc.). To verify the computed citation type, the user can inspect the highlighted citation sentence in the original PDF document. While our classification methods used to generate a realistic test data set are relatively simple and could be combined with other proposed approaches, we put a strong focus on usability and quick navigation in the potentially huge graphs. In the outlook, we argue that our tool could be made part of a community approach to overcome the sparseness and correctness dilemma in citation classification.
Estimation of network reliability using graph evolution models

Monte Carlo techniques for estimating various network reliability characteristics, including terminal connectivity, are developed by assuming that edges are subject to failures with arbitrary probabilities and nodes are absolutely reliable. The core of the approach is introducing network time-evolution processes and using certain graph-theoretic machinery, resulting in a considerable increase in accuracy for Monte Carlo estimates, especially for highly reliable networks. Simulation strategies and numerical results are presented and discussed. >
System configuration of intelligent parking assistant system

The configuration of the currently developed ipas (intelligent parking assistant system) is described. ipas allows driver to designate target position by three complimentary methods: monocular vision based parking slot marking recognition, ultrasonic sensor based parallel parking slot recognition, and drag&drop gui (graphical user interface). Ipas generates an optimal path to reach the designated target position. during parking operations, ipas estimates ego-vehicle pose using esp (electric stability program) sensors such as wheel speed sensors, braking pedal switch and steering angle sensor. Ipas automatically controls braking and steering to achieve planned trajectory by sending required actuations to esp and eps (electric power steering) via can. Furthermore, ipas informs driver of the on-going parking operation by showing estimated trajectory on the rear view image. The proposed system is validated by vehicle experiments.
Isolated Sign Language Recognition with Grassmann Covariance Matrices

In this article, to utilize long-term dynamics over an isolated sign sequence, we propose a covariance matrix--based representation to naturally fuse information from multimodal sources. To tackle the drawback induced by the commonly used Riemannian metric, the proximity of covariance matrices is measured on the Grassmann manifold. However, the inherent Grassmann metric cannot be directly applied to the covariance matrix. We solve this problem by evaluating and selecting the most significant singular vectors of covariance matrices of sign sequences. The resulting compact representation is called the Grassmann covariance matrix. Finally, the Grassmann metric is used to be a kernel for the support vector machine, which enables learning of the signs in a discriminative manner. To validate the proposed method, we collect three challenging sign language datasets, on which comprehensive evaluations show that the proposed method outperforms the state-of-the-art methods both in accuracy and computational cost.
Efficient simplification of polygonal surface models

We have proposed a new edge collapse simplification algorithm that can produce efficiently high quality approximations of closed manifold surface models. To reduce the number of triangular faces in a polygonal model, a sequence of edge collapses is performed and to choose the appropriate sequence of edge collapses, we have introduced a new error metric based on a quantity proportional to the volume of a tetrahedron. Our proposed algorithm is simple, fast and memory efficient and, can efficiently reduce very large polygonal surface models. Moreover, simplified models created using our method preserve the essential features of a model and compare favorably to many well-known published simplification techniques in terms of maximum geometric error and mean geometric error and bear high visual reliability even after significant simplification.
Face Recognition System using HGPP and Adaptive binning Method

Over the last decade, human face recognition has attracted significant attention because of its wide range of applications [2,3,4], such as criminal identification, credit card verification, security system, scene surveillance, entertainments etc., In these applications various face recognition techniques are used and these techniques depends on the intensity of an image, variations in the image such as shape, lighting etc., To eliminate extrinsic factors, various feature extraction and selection methods are used [5.6,7]. One method is histogram of Gabor phase Pattern (HGPP)[1]. In this method the quadrant bit codes are first extracted from face, based on the Gabor Transformation and Histogram techniques. The features of HGPP lie in 2 aspects: i) HGPP can describe the general face images robustly without training procedure, ii) Encodes the Gabor Phase Information, instead of Gabor magnitude information. The existing method uses LGPP and GGPP to encode the phase variations, as it uses high dimensional histogram features, it lacks in performance. Computational complexity arises due to the huge volume of data processing. So the Time taken to process the data is also increased. In the new design the above stated problems is rectified using adaptive binning method [9,10] which increases the overall efficiency of the face recognition system. Index Terms – Face Recognition, Gabor Wavelets, Local Gabor phase pattern (LGPP), Global Gabor Phase patter(GGPP), Adaptive Binning , Spatial Histograms.
A New Algorithm for Fuzzy Clustering Handling Incomplete Dataset

One of the most difficult problems in cluster analysis is the identification of the number of groups in a dataset especially in the presence of missing value. Since traditional clustering methods assumed the real number of clusters to be known. However, in real world applications the number of clusters is generally not known a priori. Also, most of clustering methods were developed to analyse complete datasets, they cannot be applied to many practical problems, e.g., on incomplete data. This paper focuses, first, on an algorithm of a fuzzy clustering approach, called OCS-FSOM. The proposed algorithm is based on neural network and uses Optimal Completion Strategy for missing value estimation in incomplete dataset. Then, we propose an extension of our algorithm, to tackle the problem of estimating the number of clusters, by using a multi level OCS-FSOM method. The new algorithm called Multi-OCSFSOM is able to find the optimal number of clusters by using a statistical criterion, that aims at measuring the qu.
Simulation-based learning: Just like the real thing

Simulation is a technique for practice and learning that can be applied to many different disciplines and trainees. It is a technique (not a technology) to replace and amplify real experiences with guided ones, often “immersive” in nature, that evoke or replicate substantial aspects of the real world in a fully interactive fashion. Simulation-based learning can be the way to develop health professionals’ knowledge, skills, and attitudes, whilst protecting patients from unnecessary risks. Simulation-based medical education can be a platform which provides a valuable tool in learning to mitigate ethical tensions and resolve practical dilemmas. Simulation-based training techniques, tools, and strategies can be applied in designing structured learning experiences, as well as be used as a measurement tool linked to targeted teamwork competencies and learning objectives. It has been widely applied in fields such aviation and the military. In medicine, simulation offers good scope for training of interdisciplinary medical teams. The realistic scenarios and equipment allows for retraining and practice till one can master the procedure or skill. An increasing number of health care institutions and medical schools are now turning to simulation-based learning. Teamwork training conducted in the simulated environment may offer an additive benefit to the traditional didactic instruction, enhance performance, and possibly also help reduce errors.
Endocan, a novel marker of endothelial dysfunction in patients with essential hypertension: Comparative effects of amlodipine and valsartan

Abstract Vascular inflammation plays an important role in the pathophysiology of hypertension and high levels of endocan may reflect ongoing vascular inflammation in hypertensive patients. In the present hypothesis-generating study, we aimed at investigating the comparative effects of amlodipine and valsartan on endocan levels in newly diagnosed hypertensive patients. The study population consisted of 37 untreated hypertensive patients who were randomized to the two treatment arms. After baseline assessment, each patient was randomly allocated to either 10 mg daily of amlodipine (n = 18, 7 males) or 160 mg daily of valsartan (n = 19, 3 males) and treated for a 3-month period. Sphygmomanometric blood pressure (BP) and serum endocan were measured before and every 2 weeks during drug treatment. There was no statistically significant difference between the two treatment arms as far as baseline socio-demographic and clinical characteristics are concerned. After a 3-month treatment period, systolic and diastolic BP values significantly reduced by antihypertensive treatment (p < 0.001). Furthermore, endocan levels were significantly decreased in both treatment arms (p < 0.05). However, amlodipine caused a greater percent decrease in circulating endocan levels compared with valsartan at the end of the treatment period. Both drugs reduced high sensitivity C-reactive protein values. However, the statistical significant difference vs baseline was achieved only in the group treated with amlodipine. No correlation was found between endocan plasma levels and BP reduction. The results of this hypothesis-generating study suggest that amlodipine and valsartan decrease endocan levels in newly diagnosed hypertensive patients. The effects, which are more evident with amlodipine, may contribute to the anti-inflammatory effects exerted by the two drugs on the vascular target.
A Study on Visual, Auditory, and Haptic Feedback for Assembly Tasks

Telepresent tasks involve removal of the human operator from an immediate working area and relocation to a remote environment that offers the operator all necessary control features. In this remote location, the operator must be provided with adequate feedback information such that the task at hand can be effectively executed. This research explores the effectiveness of various feedback methods. More specifically, graphical feedback in the form of video streamed images is compared against rendered 3D models, the overall effectiveness of haptic feedback is analyzed, and the influences of sensory augmentation and sensory substitution are examined. This study involved 48 participants, each of whom executed a simple clockwork assembly task under various feedback mechanisms. The results support the use of 3D models as opposed to live video streams for graphical presentation, utilization of haptic feedback (which was found to significantly enhance operation effectiveness), and the use of sensory augmentation and substitution under specific circumstances.
Query-Directed Probing LSH for Cosine Similarity

Locality-sensitive hashing (LSH) considered as an efficient algorithm for large-scale similarity search has become increasingly popular. Recently, many of its variants have been applied widely in high-dimensional similarity search. To overcome the drawback of requirement for a large number of hash tables, researchers proposed the famous Multi-Probe LSH (MP-LSH). It has been used to improve the utilization of hash tables. There are two major probing sequences mentioned in MP-LSH, i.e., Step-Wise Probing (SWP) sequence and Query-Directed Probing (QDP) sequence. It is verified that QDP sequence is better than SWP sequence in number of probes and query time. However, the proposed QDP sequence is based on the E2LSH. It means that the method is only adopted for Euclidean distance. For cosine similarity, SWP sequence is still the only feasible method to perform Multi-Probe LSH. This paper proposes an approach based on QDP sequence for cosine similarity search. Moreover, we give a set of complete theories and the corresponding proof for our method. Several experiments are performed on two types of open data sets. The experiments demonstrate our algorithm requires a small amount of probes and less time to achieve a high query quality than SWP sequence for cosine similarity.
K-DIME: An Affective Image Filtering System

The Kansei (Japanese for sensitivity) Distributed Information Management Environment, or K-DIME, software environment lets users or software applications fetch multimedia material from the Web on the basis of textual keywords and filter it using a Kansei user model (KUM). The KUM learns a mapping between low-level features of the multimedia data and impression words - such as "romantic" - expressed in natural language. K-DIME acts as a metasearch engine for the Web.