Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Idiopathic portal hypertension: a histopathological study of 26 Japanese cases

Analysis of 25 liver biopsy specimens and one autopsy specimen from 26 Japanese patients (23 women and three men) with idiopathic portal hypertension revealed findings that collectively appeared diagnostic for the condition. Changes in the portal tract included capillary dilatation, phlebosclerosis, and fibro‐elastosis of the stroma. Many portal veins were dilated and had herniated into the surrounding hepatic parenchyma. Portal vein obliteration and loss of bile ducts were a rare complication. The acinar architecture was disturbed by: 1 capillary and necro‐infiammatory bridging, mostly between portal tracts and terminal hepatic veins; 2 the formation of isolated megasinusoids in a random distribution; 3 displaced and abnormally large hepatic vein branches with or without phlebosclerosis and 4 slender, curved fibrous septa (hairline septa). Early nodular regeneration was found in 25% of the cases. Our review supports the contention that incomplete septal cirrhosis may be a late manifestation of idiopathic portal hypertension. It is not clear whether the biopsy findings in Japanese patients differ only in severity from those in western patients, or whether the conditions differ pathogenetically. Some histopathological findings in the Japanese cases, in particular the necroinflammatory changes, are difficult to reconcile with portal hypertension as a primary haemodynamic abn rmality.
The Design of the OpenGL Graphics Interface

OpenGL is an emerging graphics standard that provides advanced rendering features while maintaining a simple programming model. Because OpenGL is rendering-only, it can be incorporated into any window system (and has been, into the X Window System and a soon-to-be-released version of Windows) or can be used without a window system. An OpenGL implementation can efficiently accommodate almost any level of graphics hardware, from a basic framebuffer to the most sophisticated graphics subsystems. It is therefore a good choice for use in interactive 3D and 2D graphics applications. We describe how these and other considerations have governed the selection and presentation of graphical operators in OpenGL. Complex operations have been eschewed in favor of simple, direct control over the fundamental operations of 3D and 2D graphics. Higher-level graphical functions may, however, be built from OpenGL’s low-level operators, as the operators have been designed with such layering in mind. CR
Simulation study of coils sensor preferences in magnetic induction tomography

Magnetic induction tomography (MIT) is an imaging technology by measuring conductivity of biological tissue based on the eddy current testing principle. Measuring eddy current information correctly is an effective method to acquire direct problem of MIT. Based on the basic coil sensor, simulation model is constructed based on finite element method and conductor with different conductivity is measured in the field separately. The influence of coil sensor to detection is analyzed by changing the parameters of coil structure, such as distance between excitation coil and the conductor, current and frequency of excitation coil, then the optimal parameter of the coil sensor suitable to testing is chosen, so the resolution is enhanced from the sensor part.
Mobility-assisted Hierarchy for Efficient Data Collection in Wireless Sensor Networks

One fundamental task of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is to collect useful information from the sensory field or response users query. In such scenario, the gigantic amount of individual sensor readings will converge to the base station (BS) of the network. Thus, the “funnelling effect” which describes the convergence of data traffic towards data sinks remains a major threat to the network lifetime. In particular, those sensors near data sinks need to relay data for nodes that farther away and burn energy faster with the result that the network may become disconnected or dysfunctional. In this paper, we investigate a heterogeneous sensor network by introducing a few mobile elements1, referred as aggregators into static sensor network and utilize the mobility to alleviate the ”funnelling effect”. In particular, these aggregators deploy themselves and worked as cluster heads. In such mobility-assisted hierarchy, we study the aggregator deployment problem for energy conservation and consider the integration of mobility and routing algorithms for lifetime elongation. Based on the extensive simulation, we show that such mobility-based hierarchy can significantly mitigate the ”funnelling effect” and then prolong network lifetime.
Mouse opsin promoter-directed Cre recombinase expression in transgenic mice.

PURPOSE Gene inactivation with homologous recombination in mice is a widely used tool to study gene function. However, many proteins play essential roles in a number of tissues and germline gene inactivation often results in embryonic lethality. To overcome this limitation and to dissect the functions of essential genes beyond embryonic development, we generated mouse rod opsin promoter-controlled cre transgenic mice with a goal of obtaining transgenic lines with a range of Cre activity in rod photoreceptors. METHODS Transgenic mice expressing Cre recombinase directed by a long or short mouse opsin promoter were generated. Candidate Cre-expressing lines were identified with RT-PCR and Western blot analysis. Potentially useful Cre-expressing lines were characterized further with immunohistochemistry, PCR, and functional analysis using a Cre-activatable lacZ reporter mouse strain (R26R) to determine temporal and spatial patterns of Cre expression. Retinal function and morphology in these mouse lines were analyzed with electroretinography (ERG) and light microscopy of hematoxylin and eosin stained retinal sections. RESULTS Transgenic mice expressing Cre in rod photoreceptors were generated. Characterization of candidate photoreceptor-specific Cre mice using immunohistochemistry and functional assays demonstrated that an efficient Cre-mediated recombination occurred in rod photoreceptor cells in one mouse line and a mosaic Cre-mediated recombination occurred in rod photoreceptors and rod bipolar cells in another mouse line. Further analysis of these mice with ERG and morphological examination suggested that the retinas of eight-month-old adults were normal. CONCLUSIONS We have generated transgenic mice expressing Cre recombinase in rod photoreceptors. One transgenic mouse line was capable of carrying out efficient Cre-mediated recombination in rod photoreceptors. Another transgenic mouse line was capable of carrying out mosaic Cre-mediated recombination in rod photoreceptors and bipolar cells across the whole retina. These mice will be useful tools for Cre/lox-based gene activation and inactivation, as well as genetic mosaics, in rod photoreceptors and rod bipolar cells.
Use of synthetic peptides of influenza nucleoprotein to define epitopes recognized by class I-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocytes

The conserved epitopes of influenza nucleoprotein (NP) recognized by class I MHC-restricted CTL from CBA (H-2k) and C57BL/10 (H-2b) mice have been defined in vitro with synthetic peptides 50-63 and 365-379, respectively. Two Db-restricted clones were described that recognize different epitopes on peptide 365-379. Finally, the recognition of complete NP was shown to be approximately 200-fold less efficient than peptide in the cytotoxicity assay. These phenomena are closely related to results with class II-restricted T cells and they strengthen the hypothesis that influenza proteins are degraded in the infected cell before recognition by class I-restricted CTL.
Implicit volition and stereotype control

Goals are mental representations that vary in accessibility and operate within goal systems. The implicit nature of goal activation and pursuit is shown here to make goals effective not merely at overturning the influence of an activated stereotype on how people respond to members of stereotyped groups, but effective at implicitly controlling the activation of stereotypes in the first place. In a set of experiments examining chronic egalitarian goals, faces and names of members of stereotyped groups presented as target stimuli led to the inhibition of stereotypes, as well as to the heightened accessibility of egalitarian goals. A separate set of experiments illustrate a similar ability of individuals to control stereotype activation when egalitarian goals are temporarily triggered within a context, rather than being chronically held. Goals that require one to inhibit stereotypic associations to a target can lead to the intended, yet implicit, control of stereotype activation, even when one is not aware the goal is active or being pursued or being regulated.
Design of an Adaptive Framework for Utility-Based Optimization of Scientific Applications in the Cloud

Cloud computing plays an increasingly important role in realizing scientific applications by offering virtualized compute and storage infrastructures that can scale on demand. In this paper we report on the design of a self-configuring adaptive framework for developing and optimizing scientific applications on top of Cloud technologies. Our framework relies on a MAPE-K loop, known from autonomic computing, for optimizing the configuration of scientific applications taking into account the three abstraction layers of the Cloud stack: the application layer, the execution environment layer, and the resource layer. By evaluating monitored resources, the framework configures the layers and allocates resources on a per job basis. The evaluation of configurations relies on historic data and a utility function that ranks different configurations regarding to the arising costs. The adaptive framework has been integrated into the Vienna Cloud Environment (VCE) and has been evaluated with a MapReduce application.
Regularization and the small-ball method II: complexity dependent error rates

For a convex class of functions $F$, a regularization functions $\Psi(\cdot)$ and given the random data $(X_i, Y_i)_{i=1}^N$, we study estimation properties of regularization procedures of the form \begin{equation*} \hat f \in {\rm argmin}_{f\in F}\Big(\frac{1}{N}\sum_{i=1}^N\big(Y_i-f(X_i)\big)^2+\lambda \Psi(f)\Big) \end{equation*} for some well chosen regularization parameter $\lambda$. We obtain bounds on the $L_2$ estimation error rate that depend on the complexity of the "true model" $F^*:=\{f\in F: \Psi(f)\leq\Psi(f^*)\}$, where $f^*\in {\rm argmin}_{f\in F}\mathbb{E}(Y-f(X))^2$ and the $(X_i,Y_i)$'s are independent and distributed as $(X,Y)$. Our estimate holds under weak stochastic assumptions -- one of which being a small-ball condition satisfied by $F$ -- and for rather flexible choices of regularization functions $\Psi(\cdot)$. Moreover, the result holds in the learning theory framework: we do not assume any a-priori connection between the output $Y$ and the input $X$. As a proof of concept, we apply our general estimation bound to various choices of $\Psi$, for example, the $\ell_p$ and $S_p$-norms (for $p\geq1$), weak-$\ell_p$, atomic norms, max-norm and SLOPE. In many cases, the estimation rate almost coincides with the minimax rate in the class $F^*$.
Precise anytime clustering of noisy sensor data with logarithmic complexity

Clustering of streaming sensor data aims at providing online summaries of the observed stream. This task is mostly done under limited processing and storage resources. This makes the sensed stream speed (data per time) a sensitive restriction when designing stream clustering algorithms. Additionally, the varying speed of the stream is a natural characteristic of sensor data, e.g. changing the sampling rate upon detecting an event or for a certain time. In such cases, most clustering algorithms have to heavily restrict their model size such that they can handle the minimal time allowance. Recently the first anytime stream clustering algorithm has been proposed that flexibly uses all available time and dynamically adapts its model size. However, the method was not designed to precisely cluster sensor data which are usually noisy and extremely evolving. In this paper we detail the LiarTree algorithm that provides precise stream summaries and effectively handles noise, drift and novelty. We prove that the runtime of the LiarTree is logarithmic in the size of the maintained model opposed to a linear time complexity often observed in previous approaches. We demonstrate in an extensive experimental evaluation using synthetic and real sensor datasets that the LiarTree outperforms competing approaches in terms of the quality of the resulting summaries and exposes only a logarithmic time complexity.
Cluster as a Service: A Container Based Cluster Sharing Approach with Multi-user Support

With the rapid development of cloud computing and big data processing, more and more application frameworks are being considered to run in "cloud way". This brings about several challenges to the cloud computing platform, e.g., being able to run most existing heterogeneous applications, providing scalability and elasticity support for newly emerged frameworks, and most importantly, sharing cluster resources effectively. In this paper, we propose a new service model that is suitable for medium and small-sized data center to solve these problems in a relatively easy and general way - ClaaS (Cluster as a Service). The idea is virtualizing the cluster environment for application frameworks. Most applications can directly run in the virtual cluster environment without any modification, which is a great advantage. Based on lightweight containers, we implement a real system of ClaaS named Docklet in order to prove the feasibility of this service model. In the meantime, we preliminarily design the definition of applications to make them easy to deploy. Finally, we present several examples and evaluate the whole system.
A Review on the Fabrication of Polymer-Based Thermoelectric Materials and Fabrication Methods

Thermoelectricity, by converting heat energy directly into useable electricity, offers a promising technology to convert heat from solar energy and to recover waste heat from industrial sectors and automobile exhausts. In recent years, most of the efforts have been done on improving the thermoelectric efficiency using different approaches, that is, nanostructuring, doping, molecular rattling, and nanocomposite formation. The applications of thermoelectric polymers at low temperatures, especially conducting polymers, have shown various advantages such as easy and low cost of fabrication, light weight, and flexibility. In this review, we will focus on exploring new types of polymers and the effects of different structures, concentrations, and molecular weight on thermoelectric properties. Various strategies to improve the performance of thermoelectric materials will be discussed. In addition, a discussion on the fabrication of thermoelectric devices, especially suited to polymers, will also be given. Finally, we provide the challenge and the future of thermoelectric polymers, especially thermoelectric hybrid model.
Fuzzy logic based DTC for speed control of Matrix Converter fed Induction Motor

This paper presents the fuzzy inference system for selecting the switch states of matrix converter using Direct Torque Control Technique to control the speed of induction motor. In this system, two fuzzy controllers are used. One fuzzy controller estimates the voltage and the other fuzzy controller is used to select the switching vector based on the voltage vector selected by the first fuzzy controller. DTC using fuzzy controller is designed and implemented for Matrix Converter fed Induction Motor The results are compared with the conventional DTC controller fed Matrix Converter drive The speed and torque response of both the controllers are analyzed under various operating conditions. It is observed that the fuzzy controller performance is better than the conventional controller.
Elevated Mitochondrial Reactive Oxygen Species and Cellular Redox Imbalance in Human NADPH-Oxidase-Deficient Phagocytes

Chronic granulomatous disease (CGD) is caused by mutations in genes that encode the NADPH-oxidase and result in a failure of phagocytic cells to produce reactive oxygen species (ROS) via this enzyme system. Patients with CGD are highly susceptible to infections and often suffer from inflammatory disorders; the latter occurs in the absence of infection and correlates with the spontaneous production of inflammatory cytokines. This clinical feature suggests that NADPH-oxidase-derived ROS are not required for, or may even suppress, inflammatory processes. Experimental evidence, however, implies that ROS are in fact required for inflammatory cytokine production. By using a myeloid cell line devoid of a functional NADPH-oxidase and primary CGD cells, we analyzed intracellular oxidants, signs of oxidative stress, and inflammatory cytokine production. Herein, we demonstrate that phagocytes lacking a functional NADPH-oxidase, namely primary CGD phagocytes and a gp91phox-deficient cell line, display elevated levels of ROS derived from mitochondria. Accordingly, these cells, despite lacking the major source of cellular ROS, display clear signs of oxidative stress, including an induced expression of antioxidants and altered oxidation of cell surface thiols. These observed changes in redox state were not due to abnormalities in mitochondrial mass or membrane integrity. Finally, we demonstrate that increased mitochondrial ROS enhanced phosphorylation of ERK1/2, and induced production of IL8, findings that correlate with previous observations of increased MAPK activation and inflammatory cytokine production in CGD cells. Our data show that elevated baseline levels of mitochondria-derived oxidants lead to the counter-intuitive observation that CGD phagocytes are under oxidative stress and have enhanced MAPK signaling, which may contribute to the elevated basal production of inflammatory cytokines and the sterile inflammatory manifestations in CGD.
Reducing occupational sedentary time: a systematic review and meta‐analysis of evidence on activity‐permissive workstations

Excessive sedentary time is detrimentally linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and premature mortality. Studies have been investigating the use of activity‐permissive workstations to reduce sedentary time in office workers, a highly sedentary target group. This review systematically summarizes the evidence for activity‐permissive workstations on sedentary time, health‐risk biomarkers, work performance and feasibility indicators in office workplaces. In July 2013, a literature search identified 38 relevant peer‐reviewed publications. Key findings were independently extracted by two researchers. The average intervention effect on sedentary time was calculated via meta‐analysis. In total, 984 participants across 19 field‐based trials and 19 laboratory investigations were included, with sample sizes ranging from n = 2 to 66 per study. Sedentary time, health‐risk biomarkers and work performance indicators were reported in 13, 23 and 23 studies, respectively. The pooled effect size from the meta‐analysis was −77 min of sedentary time/8‐h workday (95% confidence interval = −120, −35 min). Non‐significant changes were reported for most health‐ and work‐related outcomes. Studies with acceptability measures reported predominantly positive feedback. Findings suggest that activity‐permissive workstations can be effective to reduce occupational sedentary time, without compromising work performance. Larger and longer‐term randomized‐controlled trials are needed to understand the sustainability of the sedentary time reductions and their longer‐term impacts on health‐ and work‐related outcomes.
“Spastic Saints”: Jack Kerouac, Non-Conformity, and Disability Representation

Jack Kerouac uses representations of disability throughout his fictional narratives to signify radical social non-conformity. Such representations are often considered acts of “discursive subjugation” (Mitchell and Snyder 6), yet the affinity between symbolic representation and the political as such opens a space for a figural use of disability that does not marginalize. Kerouac’s The Town and the City (1950) offers two disabled characters, Waldo Meister and Jimmy Bannon, who not only embody metaphors but also demonstrate productive, often contradictory effects of disability representation. Both Meister and Bannon flip the script of disability representation by signifying an emergent common US subjectivity triangulated with the ideological modernity of the backward-looking small town and the proto-postmodernity of the forward-looking metropolis. In On the Road (1957), Kerouac extends his use of disability as a marker of non-conformist opposition to the dehumanizing hegemony of late capitalism. Dean Moriarty’s disability provides him with an alternative subject position that frees him from postwar hypermasculinity, and Kerouac uses phalangeal amputation as a textual motif that signifies social non-conformist affiliation, not social stigmatization.
Cramér–Rao Bound for Sparse Signals Fitting the Low-Rank Model with Small Number of Parameters

In this letter, we consider signals with a low-rank covariance matrix which reside in a low-dimensional subspace and can be written in terms of a finite (small) number of parameters. Although such signals do not necessarily have a sparse representation in a finite basis, they possess a sparse structure which makes it possible to recover the signal from compressed measurements. We study the statistical performance bound for parameter estimation in the low-rank signal model from compressed measurements. Specifically, we derive the Cramér-Rao bound (CRB) for a generic low-rank model and we show that the number of compressed samples needs to be larger than the number of sources for the existence of an unbiased estimator with finite estimation variance. We further consider the applications to direction-of-arrival (DOA) and spectral estimation which fit into the low-rank signal model. We also investigate the effect of compression on the CRB by considering numerical examples of the DOA estimation scenario, and show how the CRB increases by increasing the compression or equivalently reducing the number of compressed samples.
AISeL ) All Sprouts Content Sprouts 10-3-2008 Personal Information Infrastructures for Everyday Lived Experience : A Challenge for the Future

This paper presents one possibility for the future of technology-supported mobility. It draws upon findings of a series of field studies of mobile technology use undertaken since 2001 to construct the concept of âpersonal information infrastructuresâ that support peopleâs everyday lived experience. Underpinning the concept is the belief that we should shift our focus from studying individual technologies and their application to narrow sets of activities or purposes. Rather, it suggests that we should study everyday experience and generate ways that combinations of technology can support the breadth of needs, purposes and contexts that characterise our lives. Some of the implications of this vision are discussed and future research areas are outlined.