Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Oxygen and Surgical Site Infection: A Study of Underlying Immunologic Mechanisms

Background:Recent clinical trials investigating the role of hyperoxia in decreasing surgical site infection have reported conflicting results. Immunologic mechanisms through which supplemental oxygen could act have not been elucidated fully. The authors sought to investigate the effects of hyperoxia on previously tested and prognostically significant innate immune parameters to uncover the potential effects of hyperoxia at the cellular level. Methods:After formal approval and informed consent, venous blood samples were collected from young healthy volunteers. Corresponding samples were incubated at 21 or 80% O2 following a 1 ng/ml lipopolysaccharide challenge and analyzed to determine human leukocyte antigen-DR surface receptor expression, cytokine release, phagocytic capacity, and formation of reactive oxygen species. Data are presented as mean ± SD. Results:After the 2 h of incubation at 21% O2 (room air) and in 80% O2 chambers, the change in human leukocyte antigen-DR mean channel fluorescence in lipopolysaccharide-stimulated monocytes was 2,177 ± 383 and 2,179 ± 338 (P = 0.96), respectively. Tumor necrosis factor-&agr; concentrations were significantly lower for samples incubated at 80% O2 when compared with 21% O2 (P < 0.05). The phagocytic capacity of the innate immune system was not significantly enhanced by supplemental oxygen. However, the formation of reactive oxygen species increased by 87% (P < 0.05). Conclusion:Hyperoxia exerts significant effects on multiple cellular and immunologic parameters, providing a potential mechanism for benefits from the use of supplemental oxygen. However, the ability to translate positive basic scientific findings to the operating suite or bedside require the existence of similar innate immune processes in vivo and the efficient transfer of oxygen to the sites where it may be used.
Biomechanical evaluation of dental implants with different surfaces: Removal torque and resonance frequency analysis in rabbits

STATEMENT OF PROBLEM Macroscopic and especially microscopic properties of implant surfaces play a major role in the osseous healing of dental implants. Dental implants with modified surfaces have shown stronger osseointegration than implants which are only turned (machined). Advanced surface modification techniques such as anodic oxidation and Ca-P application have been developed to achieve faster and stronger bonding between the host bone and the implant. PURPOSE The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of surface treatment of titanium dental implant on implant stability after insertion using the rabbit tibia model. MATERIAL AND METHODS Three test groups were prepared: sandblasted, large-grit and acid-etched (SLA) implants, anodic oxidized implants, and anodized implants with Ca-P immersion. The turned implants served as control. Twenty rabbits received 80 implants in the tibia. Resonance frequencies were measured at the time of implant insertion, 2 weeks and 4 weeks of healing. Removal torque values (RTV) were measured 2 and 4 weeks after insertion. RESULTS The implant stability quotient (ISQ) values of implants for resonance frequency analysis (RFA) increased significantly (P < .05) during 2 weeks of healing period although there were no significant differences among the test and control groups (P > .05). The test and control implants also showed significantly higher ISQ values during 4 weeks of healing period (P < .05). No significant differences, however, were found among all the groups. All the groups showed no significant differences in ISQ values between 2 and 4 weeks after implant insertion (P > .05). The SLA, anodized and Ca-P immersed implants showed higher RTVs at 2 and 4 weeks of healing than the machined one (P < .05). However, there was no significant difference among the experimental groups. CONCLUSION The surface-modified implants appear to provide superior implant stability to the turned one. Under the limitation of this study, however, we suggest that neither anodic oxidation nor Ca-P immersion techniques have any advantage over the conventional SLA technique with respect to implant stability.
Automated landing of a tethered quad-rotor UAV with constant winching force

This paper describes the design of a system to be used in demonstrating an automated landing of a tethered quad-rotor aircraft. Tethering a quad-rotor opens up a way to transmit power to the vehicle during missions. The automated landing system comprises of the aircraft and an instrumented winch system. A model of the tethered quad-rotor is developed. The flight control system architecture for the quad-rotor is presented. Results from simulated waypoint navigation and hovering of the tethered vehicle suggest that the designed system is fit for use in an automated landing mission.
Forecasting the Colombian Exchange Rate: Capital Adjustments and Politics vs. Traditional IRP, Trade Adjustments and Random Walk Frameworks

Very few forecasting studies have been made for the Colombian exchange rate. In this paper I try to show what variables actually affect and determine the exchange rate in Colombia. I study 2 different models for forecasting the exchange rate and asses their forecasting ability by comparing them to 3 traditionally used benchmark models. The first model relies on the idea that a current account deficit and negative net foreign assets imply a future increase in either net exports or foreign portfolio returns which, in turn, imply an exchange rate devaluation. The second model tries to capture the effect of the country’s political situation and its economic agents’ perception of the current state of economic fundamentals, on future exchange rate movements. I will show that the second model performs well for short term horizons and that the first model is out-performed by at least one of the remaining models for every single forecasting horizon. The Colombian case is particularly interesting since there are many untraditional factors, such as social instability and illegality, which may affect the exchange rate. In the paper I will also show evidence of the influence of these untraditional factors on the exchange rate using the forecast results of the models studied
Developing a Novel Framework for Effective Use of Implicit Feedback in Adaptive e-Learning

Adaptation and personalization in an e-learning process has a major effect on the relation between tutorial content selection and user learning level. Implicit feedbacks, which are easy to collect and have no effect on learning process, are introduced as valuable resources in many different adaptation methods. Common adaptive learning systems are short of an integrated and standard method for incorporating parameters like time spent for reading (TSR), page clicks, and page scrolling time. Recent methods and reports in this area are topic specific and usually not related to learning paradigms. In order to address this problem, we introduce a general framework for defining a relation between a combination of user implicit feedback and its learning level. This relation is trained as a component by some real data in a way that it could be reused in a learning management system.
Integration of Optical and Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery for Improving Crop Mapping in Northwestern Benin, West Africa

Abstract: Crop mapping in West Africa is challenging, due to the unavailability of adequate satellite images (as a result of excessive cloud cover), small agricultural fields and a heterogeneous landscape. To address this challenge, we integrated high spatial resolution multi-temporal optical (RapidEye) and dual polarized (VV/VH) SAR (TerraSAR-X) data to map crops and crop groups in northwestern Benin using the random forest classification algorithm. The overall goal was to ascertain the contribution of the SAR data to crop mapping in the region. A per-pixel classification result was overlaid with vector field boundaries derived from image segmentation, and a crop type was determined for each field based on the modal class within the field. A per-field accuracy assessment was conducted by comparing the final classification result with reference data derived from a field campaign. Results indicate that the integration of RapidEye and TerraSAR-X data improved classification accuracy by 10%–15% over the use of RapidEye only. The VV polarization was found to better discriminate crop types than the VH polarization. The research has shown that if optical and SAR data are available for the whole cropping season, classification accuracies of up to 75% are achievable.
Stability analysis of input and output finite level quantized discrete-time linear control systems

This paper analyzes the stability of input and output quantized discrete-time linear control systems considering static finite-level logarithmic quantizers. The sector bound approach together with a relaxed stability notion are applied to derive LMI based conditions for estimating a set of initial conditions and its attractor assuming that the controller and quantizers are known a priori. These conditions ensure that all state trajectories belonging to the first set will enter the attractor in a finite time and remains inside it. A numerical example is presented to illustrate the application of the derived results.
The Links between Transcription, β-catenin/JNK Signaling, and Carcinogenesis

Interactions between transcription and signaling are fundamentally important for understanding both the structure and function of genetic pathways and their role in diseases such as cancer. The finding that β-catenin/TCF4 and JNK/c-Jun cooperate has important implications in carcinogenesis. Previously, we found that binding of c-Jun and β-catenin/TCF4 to the c-jun promoter is dependent upon JNK activity, thus one role for this complex is to contribute to the repression and/or activation of genes that may mediate cell maintenance, proliferation, differentiation, and death, whereas deregulation of these signals may contribute to carcinogenesis. Here we address the functional links reported between activated β-catenin/JNK signaling pathways, their component genes, and their common targets, and discuss how alterations in the properties of these genes lead to the development of cancer. (Mol Cancer Res 2009;7(8):1189–96)
Analyzing Interlanguage Links of Wikipedias

Interlanguage-links (ILLs) among Wikipedias are one of important multilingual resources. In this paper, we describe analysis results of ILLs in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and English (CJKE) Wikipedias, and propose a cross-lingual keyword navigation system using ILLs. From analysis of ILLs, we found five patterns of ILLs. An overview of analysis results and the system are described.
Pricing of Liquidity Risks: Evidence from Multiple Liquidity Measures

We investigate the pricing implication of liquidity risks in the liquidity-adjusted capital asset pricing model of Acharya and Pedersen (2005), using multiple liquidity measures and their principal component. While we find that the empirical results are sensitive to the liquidity measure used in the test, we find strong evidence of pricing of liquidity risks when we estimate liquidity risks based on the first principal component across eight measures of liquidity, both in the cross-sectional and factor-model regressions. Our finding implies that the systematic component measured by each liquidity proxy is correlated across measures and the shocks to the systematic and common component of liquidity are an undiversifiable source of risk.
WHEN DO USERS DETECT INFORMATION QUALITY PROBLEMS ON THE WORLD WIDE WEB

Although it is generally believed that information quality problems are not uncommon on the World Wide Web, little is known about the conditions in which users find these problems and the strategies they employ for dealing with them. Furthermore, very little theory is available to guide research on user detection of information quality problems on the Internet. This study involves an analysis of questionnaires in which over 300 users were asked about incidents in which they found various kinds of information quality problems while performing tasks using the World Wide Web. The objective of the research is the development of a theoretical model of factors affecting user detection of information quality problems on the World Wide Web. Preliminary results based on 132 questionnaires are discussed in this paper.
Towards scenario creation by service composition in ubiquitous environments

Ubiquitous computing provides a large access to different functionalities through electronic devices; however these devices are not always thought to function in a set. This limits their use. Scenario creation by service composition makes it possible for end-users to specify their needs more precisely. In Service-Oriented Computing, some frameworks (such as OSGi) provide mechanisms to develop components that provide services; however they are not adapted to end-users and limited for service composition. This is why we developed a new user-centric system. Placed into an appropriate user electronic device, it discovers the available services around him and orders them to provide a better access through a GUI. Users can thus compose services to create a scenario thanks to a graphic adaptation of our ADL. Once created, this scenario can be registered and shared among users. A prototype (still in development) implements our system and demonstrates its feasibility. It can be improved by adding some recovery strategies.
Analysis on mechanisms and performance of on-line angle correction in LED die sorting

all dies are required to keep consistent angles in LED chip sorting. It is a problem because all chips are adhesive to wafer tape, each is rotated, and locations of all other dies change. Usually, visual rectification is used for this. While, each correction needs several adjustments, it may decrease production efficiency greatly. To solve this problem, an on-line angle correction method is put forward. Techniques including fast fitting to rotating center with machine vision, reverse seeking angle offset and translation distance for correction, approach for over-quadrant are discussed in detail. In addition, SPN model of sorting is built to analyze its influence to production rate. With experimental results, it is proved to be effective for angle correction with little loss of sort efficiency even in not too good working conditions.
A Package-Integrated Chireix Outphasing RF Switch-Mode High-Power Amplifier

This paper describes the design and implementation of a package-integrated Chireix outphasing RF switch-mode power amplifier (PA). The optimum loading conditions, based on class E, and the Chireix compensation elements are provided to the active devices by a dedicated low-loss bondwire-based transformer power combiner that enables a very small form factor and low cost. The realized prototype achieved 70.6-W peak power with 73% peak drain efficiency at 2.3 GHz and 28 V, and up to 81% peak drain efficiency at 2.2 GHz and 20 V. When operated for maximum power at 28 V, it reached 53.5%/43.5% average drain/total efficiency for a 9.6-dB peak-to-average-power-ratio W-CDMA signal at 2.3 GHz with low ACLR1/2 levels ( -49/ -56 dBc after memoryless digital predistortion). Moreover, from 2.1 to 2.4 GHz, the realized PA demonstrated more than 50% drain efficiency across > 260, > 160, and > 80 MHz at 6-, 8-, and 10-dB back-off, respectively.
A Drawing-Based Digital Music Instrument

This paper presents an innovative digital musical instrument, the Illusio, based on an augmented multi-touch interface that combines a traditional multi-touch surface and a device similar to a guitar pedal. Illusio allows users to perform by drawing and by associating the sketches with live loops. These loops are manipulated based on a concept called hierarchical live looping, which extends traditional live looping through the use of a musical tree, in which any music operation applied to a given node affects all its children nodes. Finally, we evaluate the instrument considering the performer and the audience, which are two of the most important stakeholders involved in the use, conception, and perception of a musical device. The results achieved are encouraging and led to useful insights about how to improve instrument features, performance and usability.
SEC Investigations and Securities Class Actions: An Empirical Comparison

Using actions with both an SEC investigation and a class action as our baseline, we compare the targeting of SEC-only investigations with class action-only lawsuits. Looking at measures of information asymmetry, we find that investors in the market perceive greater information asymmetry following the public announcement of the underlying violation for class action-only lawsuits compared with SEC-only investigations. Turning to sanctions, we find that the incidence of top officer resignation is greater for class action-only lawsuits relative to SEC-only investigations. Our findings are consistent with the private enforcement targeting disclosure violations at least as precisely (if not more) than SEC enforcement.
Substantive Rights and Obligations Under the UNESCO Convention on Cultural Diversity

The adopted version of the UNESCO Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions (CCD) has not become as powerful an instrument against the expansionist powers of economic globalisation under the WTO regime as its initiators hoped it to be. Though providing many rights for the Parties to the Convention to protect and promote their culture, it lacks both binding obligations and a compulsory dispute settlement mechanism. Furthermore, the CCD does not provide any criteria to distinguish between licit and protectionist cultural policy measures. However, the Convention can still be seen as a first step to strengthen the position of cultural values and interests. In the future, the Parties to the CCD could work out mechanisms to interpret the provisions of the Convention, thus giving them more sharpness, and the development of a proportionality or necessity test to scrutinise the Parties' measures and policies could further improve the normative relevance of the CCD.
Longitudinal correlation of 3D OCT to detect early stage erosion in bovine enamel

Erosive tissue-loss in dental enamel is of significant clinical concern because the net loss of enamel is irreversible, however, initial erosion is reversible. Micro-hardness testing is a standard method for measuring initial erosion, but its invasive nature has led to the investigation of alternative measurement techniques. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is an attractive alternative because of its ability to non-invasively image three-dimensional volumes. In this study, a four-dimensional OCT system is used to longitudinally measure bovine enamel undergoing a continuous erosive challenge. A new method of analyzing 3D OCT volumes is introduced that compares intensity projections of the specimen surface by calculating the slope of a linear regression line between corresponding pixel intensities and the associated correlation coefficient. The OCT correlation measurements are compared to micro-hardness data and found to exhibit a linear relationship. The results show that this method is a sensitive technique for the investigation of the formation of early stage erosive lesions.
Computing derivatives of scaling functions and wavelets

This paper provides a general approach to the computation, for sufficiently regular multiresolution analyses, of scaling functions and wavelets and their derivatives. Two distinct iterative schemes are used to determine the multiresolution functions, the so-called 'cascade' algorithm and an eigenvector-based method. We present a novel development of these procedures which not only encompasses both algorithms simultaneously but also applies to the computation of derivatives of the functions. With this we demonstrate that the differences between the two algorithms are due solely to their respective initializations. We prove that the cascade initialization can be used only to compute the functions themselves, while the eigenvector one works for their derivatives as well. Finally, as an alternative to the results of Daubechies and Lagarias (1991, 1992), we derive a new, simpler normalization formula for the eigenvector method.
Effectiveness of interventions to promote healthy weight in general populations of children and adults: a meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND Responding to the obesity epidemic requires robust evidence to help prioritize the allocation of scarce resources to preventive interventions. The aim of this study was to evaluate interventions that promote healthy weight [defined as reduction in body mass index (BMI) or percentage body fat] in general populations (unselected by weight) using a comprehensive meta-analysis. Interventions with both single and multiple components were considered. METHODS Studies were first identified through well-conducted systematic reviews complemented by a search for single studies in five large medical databases up to 6 November 2008. Sixty-eight controlled studies were included. For each intervention type and age group, all relevant studies were pooled in a random effects meta-analysis. RESULTS In children, the highest reductions in mean BMI were achieved through promoting reduced television viewing [-0.27 kg/m(2) (95% CI -0.4 to -0.13 kg/m(2))]. Programmes combining physical activity, specifically themed or general health education and nutrition achieved a lower reduction [-0.1 kg/m(2) (95% CI -0.17 to -0.04 kg/m(2))]. Other interventions had high heterogeneity or showed no statistically significant reduction in outcomes. In adults, single component interventions were found to reduce both outcome measures. Their mean percentage body fat was reduced through education by -1.22% (95% CI -1.92 to -0.52). CONCLUSION The evidence for the effectiveness of promoting healthy weight in general populations is limited, though multi-component interventions in schools and encouraging reduced children's television viewing are promising strategies. Improving the reporting of outcomes is vital, as imputation of inadequately reported measures may have contributed to the observed heterogeneity. Longer follow-up is essential for understanding policy relevance.
On the spectrum of the Neumann problem for Laplace equation in a domain with a narrow slit

The Neumann problem in two-dimensional domain with a narrow slit is studied. The width of the slit is a small parameter 0 < e 1. The complete asymptotic expansion with respect to e for the eigenvalue of the perturbed problem converging to a simple eigenvalue of the limiting problem is constructed by means of the method of the matching asymptotic expansions. It is shown that the regular perturbation theory can formally be applied in a natural way up to terms of order e2. However, the result obtained in that way is false. The correct result can be obtained only by means of inner asymptotic expansion. We also show that the eigenvalue of the perturbed problem can be both more and less than the eigenvalue of the limiting problem subject to the position and geometry of the slit.