Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Convergence Rate for a Curse-of-Dimensionality-Free Method for a Class of HJB PDEs

In previous work of the first author and others, max-plus methods have been explored for solution of first-order, nonlinear Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman partial differential equations (HJB PDEs) and corresponding nonlinear control problems. Although max-plus basis expansion and max-plus finite-element methods can provide substantial computational-speed advantages, they still generally suffer from the curse-of-dimensionality. Here we consider HJB PDEs where the Hamiltonian takes the form of a (pointwise) maximum of linear/quadratic forms. The approach to solution will be rather general, but in order to ground the work, we consider only constituent Hamiltonians corresponding to long-run average-cost-per-unit-time optimal control problems for the development. We consider a previously obtained numerical method not subject to the curse-of-dimensionality. The method is based on construction of the dual-space semigroup corresponding to the HJB PDE. This dual-space semigroup is constructed from the dual-space semigroups corresponding to the constituent linear/quadratic Hamiltonians. The dual-space semigroup is particularly useful due to its form as a max-plus integral operator with kernel obtained from the originating semigroup. One considers repeated application of the dual-space semigroup to obtain the solution. Although previous work indicated that the method was not subject to the curse-of-dimensionality, it did not indicate any error bounds or convergence rate. Here we obtain specific error bounds.
Nitrite Anion Provides Potent Cytoprotective and Antiapoptotic Effects as Adjunctive Therapy to Reperfusion for Acute Myocardial Infarction

Background— Accumulating evidence suggests that the ubiquitous anion nitrite (NO2−) is a physiological signaling molecule, with roles in intravascular endocrine nitric oxide transport, hypoxic vasodilation, signaling, and cytoprotection. Thus, nitrite could enhance the efficacy of reperfusion therapy for acute myocardial infarction. The specific aims of this study were (1) to assess the efficacy of nitrite in reducing necrosis and apoptosis in canine myocardial infarction and (2) to determine the relative role of nitrite versus chemical intermediates, such as S-nitrosothiols. Methods and Results— We evaluated infarct size, microvascular perfusion, and left ventricular function by histopathology, microspheres, and magnetic resonance imaging in 27 canines subjected to 120 minutes of coronary artery occlusion. This was a blinded, prospective study comparing a saline control group (n=9) with intravenous nitrite during the last 60 minutes of ischemia (n=9) and during the last 5 minutes of ischemia (n=9). In saline-treated control animals, 70±10% of the area at risk was infarcted compared with 23±5% in animals treated with a 60-minute nitrite infusion. Remarkably, a nitrite infusion in the last 5 minutes of ischemia also limited the extent of infarction (36±8% of area at risk). Nitrite improved microvascular perfusion, reduced apoptosis, and improved contractile function. S-Nitrosothiol and iron-nitrosyl-protein adducts did not accumulate in the 5-minute nitrite infusion, suggesting that nitrite is the bioactive intravascular nitric oxide species accounting for cardioprotection. Conclusions— Nitrite has significant potential as adjunctive therapy to enhance the efficacy of reperfusion therapy for acute myocardial infarction.
Recent advances in very highly nonlinear chalcogenide photonic crystal fibers and their applications

Chalcogenide glasses are based on a mixture of chalcogen elements (Sulphur, Selenium and Tellurium) and other elements such as Arsenic, Germanium, Antimony or Gallium. Compared to silica glasses, they offer several distinctive optical properties such as their transmission window which extends far into the infrared spectral region (up to 25μm for telluride glasses). Chalcogenide glasses also exhibit an extremely high nonlinear index coefficient n2 that can be two or three orders of magnitude greater than in silica at 1.55 μm. These nonlinear properties can be further enhanced by drawing these glasses into Chalcogenide Photonic Crystal Fibers (CPCF) due to the possibility of designing such fibers with a very small core diameter [1–3]. Since 2004, PERFOS and the laboratory "Glass and Ceramics" of Rennes University (EVC) have worked together to develop CPCFs [4–6] and are currently investigating a new method to fabricate chalcogenides preforms based on the glass casting process.
Visualizing Flow Diagrams with SHriMP

Message-flow diagrams are a visual formalism for describing the movement of data between information systems, and may be drawn with IBM’s mqsi (Message Queue Systems Integrator) product. An associated runtime system executes these diagrams: i.e. combines, transforms, and delivers the messages. mqsi is typically used to integrate information systems when large corporations merge. Much of IBM’s flow related middleware is developed in Toronto.
Genome Fragmentation Is Not Confined to the Peridinin Plastid in Dinoflagellates

When plastids are transferred between eukaryote lineages through series of endosymbiosis, their environment changes dramatically. Comparison of dinoflagellate plastids that originated from different algal groups has revealed convergent evolution, suggesting that the host environment mainly influences the evolution of the newly acquired organelle. Recently the genome from the anomalously pigmented dinoflagellate Karlodinium veneficum plastid was uncovered as a conventional chromosome. To determine if this haptophyte-derived plastid contains additional chromosomal fragments that resemble the mini-circles of the peridin-containing plastids, we have investigated its genome by in-depth sequencing using 454 pyrosequencing technology, PCR and clone library analysis. Sequence analyses show several genes with significantly higher copy numbers than present in the chromosome. These genes are most likely extrachromosomal fragments, and the ones with highest copy numbers include genes encoding the chaperone DnaK(Hsp70), the rubisco large subunit (rbcL), and two tRNAs (trnE and trnM). In addition, some photosystem genes such as psaB, psaA, psbB and psbD are overrepresented. Most of the dnaK and rbcL sequences are found as shortened or fragmented gene sequences, typically missing the 3′-terminal portion. Both dnaK and rbcL are associated with a common sequence element consisting of about 120 bp of highly conserved AT-rich sequence followed by a trnE gene, possibly serving as a control region. Decatenation assays and Southern blot analysis indicate that the extrachromosomal plastid sequences do not have the same organization or lengths as the minicircles of the peridinin dinoflagellates. The fragmentation of the haptophyte-derived plastid genome K. veneficum suggests that it is likely a sign of a host-driven process shaping the plastid genomes of dinoflagellates.
Lithium treatment attenuates muscarinic M1 receptor dysfunction

Creson TK, Austin DR, Shaltiel G, McCammon J, Wess J, Manji HK, Chen G. Lithium treatment attenuates muscarinic M1 receptor dysfunction. Bipolar Disord 2011: 13: 238–249. © 2011 The Authors. Journal compilation © 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S.
Using the balanced scorecard as a strategic management system

for competition that is based on information, their ability to exploit intangible assets has become far more decisive than their ability to invest in and manage physical assets. Several years ago, in recognition of this change, we introduced a concept we called the balanced scorecard. The balanced scorecard supplemented traditional fi nancial measures with criteria that measured performance from three additional perspectives – those of customers, internal business processes, and learning and growth. (See the exhibit “Translating Vision and Strategy: Four Perspectives.”) It therefore enabled companies to track fi nancial results while simultaneously monitoring progress in building the capabilities and acquiring the intangible assets they would need for future growth. The scorecard wasn’t Editor’s Note: In 1992, Robert S. Kaplan and David P. Norton’s concept of the balanced scorecard revolutionized conventional thinking about performance metrics. By going beyond traditional measures of fi nancial performance, the concept has given a generation of managers a better understanding of how their companies are really doing. These nonfi nancial metrics are so valuable mainly because they predict future fi nancial performance rather than simply report what’s already happened. This article, fi rst published in 1996, describes how the balanced scorecard can help senior managers systematically link current actions with tomorrow’s goals, focusing on that place where, in the words of the authors, “the rubber meets the sky. ” Using the Balanced Scorecard as a Strategic Management System
Neutrophils Mediate Blood–Spinal Cord Barrier Disruption in Demyelinating Neuroinflammatory Diseases

Disruption of the blood–brain and blood–spinal cord barriers (BBB and BSCB, respectively) and immune cell infiltration are early pathophysiological hallmarks of multiple sclerosis (MS), its animal model experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), and neuromyelitis optica (NMO). However, their contribution to disease initiation and development remains unclear. In this study, we induced EAE in lys-eGFP-ki mice and performed single, nonterminal intravital imaging to investigate BSCB permeability simultaneously with the kinetics of GFP+ myeloid cell infiltration. We observed a loss in BSCB integrity within a day of disease onset, which paralleled the infiltration of GFP+ cells into the CNS and lasted for ∼4 d. Neutrophils accounted for a significant proportion of the circulating and CNS-infiltrating myeloid cells during the preclinical phase of EAE, and their depletion delayed the onset and reduced the severity of EAE while maintaining BSCB integrity. We also show that neutrophils collected from the blood or bone marrow of EAE mice transmigrate more efficiently than do neutrophils of naive animals in a BBB cell culture model. Moreover, using intravital videomicroscopy, we demonstrate that the IL-1R type 1 governs the firm adhesion of neutrophils to the inflamed spinal cord vasculature. Finally, immunostaining of postmortem CNS material obtained from an acutely ill multiple sclerosis patient and two neuromyelitis optica patients revealed instances of infiltrated neutrophils associated with regions of BBB or BSCB leakage. Taken together, our data provide evidence that neutrophils are involved in the initial events that take place during EAE and that they are intimately linked with the status of the BBB/BSCB.
A1M Ameliorates Preeclampsia-Like Symptoms in Placenta and Kidney Induced by Cell-Free Fetal Hemoglobin in Rabbit

Preeclampsia is one of the most serious pregnancy-related diseases and clinically manifests as hypertension and proteinuria after 20 gestational weeks. The worldwide prevalence is 3-8% of pregnancies, making it the most common cause of maternal and fetal morbidity and mortality. Preeclampsia lacks an effective therapy, and the only “cure” is delivery. We have previously shown that increased synthesis and accumulation of cell-free fetal hemoglobin (HbF) in the placenta is important in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia. Extracellular hemoglobin (Hb) and its metabolites induce oxidative stress, which may lead to acute renal failure and vascular dysfunction seen in preeclampsia. The human endogenous protein, α1-microglobulin (A1M), removes cell-free heme-groups and induces natural tissue repair mechanisms. Exogenously administered A1M has been shown to alleviate the effects of Hb-induced oxidative stress in rat kidneys. Here we attempted to establish an animal model mimicking the human symptoms at stage two of preeclampsia by administering species-specific cell-free HbF starting mid-gestation until term, and evaluated the therapeutic effect of A1M on the induced symptoms. Female pregnant rabbits received HbF infusions i.v. with or without A1M every second day from gestational day 20. The HbF-infused animals developed proteinuria and a significantly increased glomerular sieving coefficient in kidney that was ameliorated by co-administration of A1M. Transmission electron microscopy analysis of kidney and placenta showed both intracellular and extracellular tissue damages after HbF-treatment, while A1M co-administration resulted in a significant reduction of the structural and cellular changes. Neither of the HbF-treated animals displayed any changes in blood pressure during pregnancy. In conclusion, infusion of cell-free HbF in the pregnant rabbits induced tissue damage and organ failure similar to those seen in preeclampsia, and was restored by co-administration of A1M. This study provides preclinical evidence supporting further examination of A1M as a potential new therapy for preeclampsia.
Linear-time approximation schemes for clustering problems in any dimensions

We present a general approach for designing approximation algorithms for a fundamental class of geometric clustering problems in arbitrary dimensions. More specifically, our approach leads to simple randomized algorithms for the <i>k</i>-means, <i>k</i>-median and discrete <i>k</i>-means problems that yield (1+ϵ) approximations with probability ≥ 1/2 and running times of <i>O</i>(2<sup>(<i>k</i>/ϵ)<sup><i>O</i>(1)</sup></sup> <i>dn</i>). These are the first algorithms for these problems whose running times are linear in the size of the input (<i>nd</i> for <i>n</i> points in <i>d</i> dimensions) assuming <i>k</i> and ϵ are fixed. Our method is general enough to be applicable to clustering problems satisfying certain simple properties and is likely to have further applications.
Surface approximation and geometric partitions

Motivated by applications in computer graphics, visualization, and scientic compu- tation, we study the computational complexity of the following problem: given a set S of n points sampled from a bivariate function f(x;y) and an input parameter "> 0, compute a piecewise-linear function (x;y) of minimum complexity (that is, an xy-monotone polyhedral surface, with a mini- mum number of vertices, edges, or faces) such thatj(xp;yp) i zp j" for all (xp;yp;zp)2 S.W e give hardness evidence for this problem, by showing that a closely related problem is NP-hard. The main result of our paper is a polynomial-time approximation algorithm that computes a piecewise- linear surface of size O(Ko logKo), where Ko is the complexity of an optimal surface satisfying the constraints of the problem. The technique developed in our paper is more general and applies to several other problems that deal with partitioning of points (or other objects) subject to certain geometric constraints. For instance, we get the same approximation bound for the following problem arising in machine learning: givenn \red" andm \blue" points in the plane, nd a minimum number of pairwise disjoint triangles such that each blue point is covered by some triangle and no red point lies in any of the triangles.
[Poster] Indirect augmented reality considering real-world illumination change

Indirect augmented reality (IAR) utilizes pre-captured omnidirectional images and offline superimposition of virtual objects for achieving high-quality geometric and photometric registration. Meanwhile, IAR causes inconsistency between the real world and the pre-captured image. This paper describes the first-ever study focusing on the temporal inconsistency issue in IAR. We propose a novel IAR system which reflects real-world illumination change by selecting an appropriate image from a set of images pre-captured under various illumination. Results of a public experiment show that the proposed system can improve the realism in IAR.
Impact of China's Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance on Health Care Utilization and Expenditure

In 2007, China launched a subsidized voluntary public health insurance program, the Urban Resident Basic Medical Insurance, for urban residents without formal employment, including children, the elderly, and other unemployed urban residents. We estimate the impact of this program on health care utilization and expenditure using 2006 and 2009 waves of the China Health and Nutrition Survey. We find that this program has significantly increased the utilization of formal medical services. This result is robust to various specifications and multiple estimation strategies. However, there is no evidence that it has reduced out-of-pocket expenditure and some evidence suggesting that it has increased the total health care expenditure. We also find that this program has improved medical care utilization more for the elderly, for the low- and middle-income families, and for the residents in the relatively poor western region.
Exploiting functional decomposition for efficient parallel processing of multiple data analysis queries

Reuse is a powerful method for increasing system performance. In this paper, we examine functional decomposition for improving data and computation reuse and, therefore, overall query execution performance in the context of data analysis applications. Additionally, we look at the performance effects of using various projection primitives that make it possible to transform intermediate results generated by a query so that they can be reused by a new query. A satellite data analysis application is used to experimentally show the performance benefits achieved using functional decomposition and projection primitives.
Molecular Cloning and Characterization of RGC-32, a Novel Gene Induced by Complement Activation in Oligodendrocytes*

Sublytic complement activation on oligodendrocytes (OLG) down-regulates expression of myelin genes and induces cell cycle in culture. Differential display (DD) was used to search for new genes whose expression is altered in response to complement and that may be involved in cell cycle activation. DD bands showing either increased or decreased mRNA expression in response to complement were identified and designated ResponseGenes to Complement (RGC) 1–32.RGC-1 is identical with heat shock protein 105,RGC-2 with poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase, andRGC-10 with IP-10. A new gene, RGC-32, that encodes a protein of 137 amino acids was cloned. RGC-32 has no homology with other known proteins, and contains no motif that would indicate its function. In OLG, the mRNA expression was increased by complement activation and by terminal complement complex assembly. RGC-32 protein was localized in the cytoplasm and co-immunoprecipitated with cdc2 kinase. Overexpression of RGC-32 increased DNA synthesis in OLGxC6 glioma cell hybrids. These results suggest thatRGC-32 may play a role in cell cycle activation.
Animating images with drawings

The work described here extends the power of 2D animation with a form of texture mapping conveniently controlled by line drawings. By tracing points, line segments, spline curves, or filled regions on an image, the animator defines features which can be used to animate the image. Animations of the control features deform the image smoothly. This development is in the tradition of “skeleton”-based animation, and “feature”-based image metamorphosis. By employing numerics developed in the computer vision community for rapid visual surface estimation, several important advantages are realized. Skeletons are generalized to include curved “bones,” the interpolating surface is better behaved, the expense of computing the animation is decoupled from the number of features in the drawing, and arbitrary holes or cuts in the interpolated surface can be accommodated. The same general scattered data interpolation technique is applied to the problem of mapping animation from one image and set of features to another, generalizing the prescriptive power of animated sequences and encouraging reuse of animated motion.
Kinematics of Anterior Cruciate Ligament Ruptures in World Cup Alpine Skiing

Background: Based on visual video analyses of 20 injury situations, the main mechanism of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in World Cup alpine skiing, termed the “slip-catch” mechanism, was identified. This situation is characterized by a common pattern in which the inside edge of the outer ski catches the snow surface while turning, forcing the knee into valgus and tibial internal rotation. To describe the exact joint kinematics at the time of injury, a more sophisticated approach is needed. Purpose: To describe the knee and hip kinematics in 2 slip-catch situations utilizing a model-based image-matching (MBIM) technique. Study Design: Descriptive laboratory study. Methods: Two typical slip-catch situations in World Cup alpine skiing reported through the International Ski Federation (FIS) Injury Surveillance System were captured on video with several camera views and high video quality. The injury situations were analyzed using the MBIM technique to produce continuous measurements of knee and hip joint kinematics. Results: Within 60 milliseconds, the knee flexion angle increased rapidly from 26° to 63° in case 1 and from 39° to 69° in case 2. In the same period, we observed a rapid increase in internal rotation of the tibia with a peak of 12° and 9°, respectively. The knee valgus angle changed less markedly in both cases. We also observed a rapid increase of hip flexion as well as substantial hip internal rotation. Conclusion: Knee compression and knee internal rotation and abduction torque are important components of the injury mechanism in a slip-catch situation. Clinical Relevance: Prevention efforts should focus on avoiding a forceful tibial internal rotation in combination with knee valgus.
Value-Based Coverage Measurement in Requirements-Based Testing: Lessons Learned from an Approach Implemented in the TOSCA Testsuite

Testing is one of the most widely practiced quality assurance measures and also one of the most resource-intensive activities in software development. Still, however, most of the available methods, techniques and tools for software testing are value-neutral and do not realize the potential value contribution of testing. In this paper we present an approach for value-based coverage measurement that can be used to align the testing effort with the achievable value associated with requirements and functional units. It has been implemented as part of a commercial test tool and was successfully applied in real-world projects. The results demonstrated its ability to adequately capture the distribution of the business value and risks involved in different requirements. The paper concludes with sharing important lessons learned from developing value-based coverage measurement in the practical setting of commercial tool development and real-world test projects.