Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Optimization of configuration parameters in a newly developed digital breast tomosynthesis system

The purpose of the present work was to investigate the effects of variable projection-view (PV) and angular dose (AD) distributions on the reconstructed image quality for improving microcalcification detection. The PV densities at central and peripheral sites were varied through the distribution of 21 PVs acquired over ±25° angular range. To vary the AD distribution, 7 PVs in the central region were targeted with two, four and six times the peripheral dose, and the number of central PVs receiving four times the peripheral dose was increased from 3 to 11. The contrast-to-noise ratio (CNR) for in-focus plane quality and the full width at half maximum (FWHM) of artifact spread function (ASF) for resolution in the z-direction were used. Although the ASF improved with increasing PV densities at two peripheral sites, the CNRs were inferior to those obtained with other subsets. With increasing PV density in the central area, the vertical resolution decreased but the CNR increased. Although increasing the central PV or AD concentrations improved image quality, excessive central densities reduced image quality by increasing noise in peripheral views.
Minerals paragenesis in hydrated cement paste seen by diffraction tomography

Large amounts of nuclear waste await final disposal worldwide. A combination of waste overpacks (e.g. metal canisters, concrete), engineered barriers such as bentonite, and natural barriers such as clay rocks, constitutes the elements of the so-called " multiple-barrier system " between the waste matrix and the biosphere. The number, types and assigned safety functions of these various barriers depend on the chosen repository concept, the waste form, the radionuclide inventory in the waste, the selected host rock, the hydrogeological and geochemical settings of the repository site, etc.(Apted and Ahn, 2010). These barrier properties will evolve with time in response to the physical and chemical interactions between the various constituents of the barriers and the surrounding environment. Consequently, predicting how these properties evolve is of prime importance for performance and safety evaluations of the repository concepts. As a prerequisite, initial properties of the materials used in the disposal have to be understood, to better predict their long term behavior. Although micro imaging techniques are more and more sophisticated and powerful (Gaboreau et al., 2016), few techniques allow in-situ characterization of both the evolution of the different phases's mineralogy and their 3D spatial arrangement. To tackle this issue, X-Ray diffraction computed tomography (XRD-CT, see Fig1) that allows to record in each voxel of the recorded volume an X-ray diffraction pattern, has been successfully applied to investigate hydration and microstructural development in cements (Voltolini et al., 2013). Here we present results obtained by synchrotron XRD-CT on a cement paste formulation, which is constituted of blended Portland, fly ash, blast furnace slag cement (Chen et al., 2012), foreseen to be used for nuclear waste disposal application. The mineralogy (including spatial distribution) of a cured cement paste and of a cement paste undergoing in-situ and time-resolved hydration will be compared and discussed. In addition, special care will be taken to analyze the evolution of cement porosity as a function of time and of associated spatially-and time-resolved carbonation mechanism.
Networks with advance reservations: the routing perspective

This paper provides an initial look at how support for advance reservations affects the complexity of the path selection process in networks. Advance reservations are likely to become increasingly important as networks and distributed applications become functionally richer and there have been a number of previous works and investigations that explored various related aspects. However, the impact or advance reservations on path selection is a topic that has been left largely untouched. This paper investigates several service models for advance reservations, which range from the traditional basic model of reserving a given amount of bandwidth for some time in the future, to more sophisticated models aimed at increasing the flexibility of services available through advance reservations. The focus is primarily on the issue of computational complexity when supporting advance reservations, and in that context, we derive a number of algorithms and/or intractability results for the various models we consider.
Investigation of Friction Characteristics of Brush Seal with Bulk Porous Medium Approach

Brush seals have shown excellent sealing performance in turbo-machinery, including gas turbines, steam turbines and compressors. However, brush seal is subject to the friction-driven failure which is caused by the serious rub between the bristles and the rotor. Although several 3D models had been built to analyze the friction force, the modeling were usually quite complicated and time consuming as the large amount of bristles. Bulk porous medium approach can simplify the modeling greatly and predict the leakage with accuracy, but it had been limited by the incapability of analyzing the friction characteristic of brush seal. In this paper, a new method is created to investigate the friction characteristic of brush seal with the bulk porous medium (BPM) model. Numerical simulation with 3D bristle bundle model and experimental tests were performed to validate this method. It is shown that the predicted friction forces of brush seal obtained by the BPM method are in good agreement with those obtain in experiments and 3D simulations.
Sequential Innovation, Patents, and Imitation

We argue that when innovation is “sequential” (so that each successive invention builds in an essential way on its predecessors) and “complementary” (so that each potential innovator takes a different research line), patent protection is not as useful for encouraging innovation as in a static setting. Indeed, society and even inventors themselves may be better off without such protection. Furthermore, an inventor's prospective profit may actually be enhanced by competition and imitation. Our sequential model of innovation appears to explain evidence from a natural experiment in the software industry.
Reliving video experiences with mobile devices

In this study, we construct a Reliving Video Experience system. This system gives users the same experience as the camera operator when they captured the video because users can superimpose video frames on an actual scene in the position where the video was captured. Users can then watch the video while moving in the same way as the camera operator. We implemented this method in an exhibition centre that relives the videos of old railways and we exhibited our system at THE RAILWAY MUSEUM for two weeks. Our analysis user questionnaires suggest that the proposed system and its interaction techniques are effective for reliving video experiences in the real world.
A comparative study of the anodic alumina film thickness measured via SEM and evaluated using Faraday’s Law

Five Al specimens (99.301 wt% pure) were anodized in 0.3 M oxalic acid at 0 °C and 40 V for five different anodization times in the range 5–30 min. The thickness of the anodic alumina films was measured by SEM as well as calculated by Faraday’s Law. It was found that the average current (4.71 mA), average current density (2.14 mA cm−2), and average growth rate (57.37 nm min−1) of the anodic alumina films remain independent of anodization time. The total charge transferred (1.42–8.16 C) and thickness of alumina film d F L calculated by Faraday’s Law (0.29–1.66 μm) increase linearly with the increase in anodization time from 5 to 30 min. It was established that the value of film thickness d S E M measured by SEM (5–79 μm) also increases linearly with the anodization time. However, the value of d S E M was substantially greater than that of d F L . The relation between d S E M and d F L can be described by d S E M = R (t, V, T) × d F L , where the value of multiplying factor R depends on the anodization time (t), voltage (V), and temperature (T). Analysis of the SEM top-view image micrographs of the anodic alumina films revealed that the pore diameter, interpore distance, and porosity of the anodic alumina film increase linearly with the increase in the anodization time. On the contrary, opposite behavior was observed in the case of pore circularity and pore density. The peak intensity of preferentially oriented (311) plane of Al substrate decreased whereas the FWHM increased on anodization, which means that the crystallographic nature of (311) plane was rather deteriorated on anodization.
Stereo matching based on color image segmentation and cross adaptive window

A method of stereo matching which is based on color image segmentation and cross adaptive window has been used to solve the problems of matching imprecision in depth discontinuity regions and low texture regions. This article first produces the matching cost based on color segmentation region by segmenting color image and the one based on cross adaptive window which makes use of color similarity, and then integrates the two to form the combined matching cost. At last it uses the fast searching method of optical parallax to narrow the matching range and then raise the efficiency rate. The result of this experiment can improve the matching accuracy in depth discontinuity regions and low texture regions and raise the matching speed.
Incidence of Persistent Renal Dysfunction in Human Immunodeficiency Virus-Infected Children: Associations With the Use of Antiretrovirals, and Other Nephrotoxic Medications and Risk Factors

Background: Survival of HIV-infected children continues to increase and the use of antiretrovirals (ARVs) is expanding; however there are few data regarding the incidence of renal dysfunction and associated risk factors among HIV-infected children and youth. Methods: A total of 2102 children enrolled in Pediatric AIDS Clinical Trials Group Study 219/219C, were followed and assessed prospectively for >30 months. Occurrence of clinical events and laboratory abnormalities were recorded using standardized criteria and forms. Therapeutic decisions were made by clinicians at each site. Occurrence of persistent renal laboratory abnormalities was the main outcome measure. Results: Four hundred forty-six (22%) enrollees exhibited at least one persistent renal laboratory abnormality. Elevated serum creatinine (Cr) was more common than persistent proteinuria (15% vs. 8%). The incidence of new renal laboratory abnormalities was 3.7 events per 100 person-years with rates increasing between 1993 and 2005. Older age (≥6 years vs. <6 years), Hispanic ethnicity, and Black non-Hispanic race were associated with increased risk of renal dysfunction, but CDC clinical class and plasma HIV RNA levels were not. Subjects exposed to ARV regimens containing tenofovir and/or indinavir had approximately twice the risk of developing renal dysfunction compared with persons exposed to other ARVs. The risk of renal dysfunction was also elevated for other antivirals (hazard ratio = 5.4) and amphotericin B (hazard ratio = 28). Conclusions: Persistent renal function abnormalities occur frequently in HIV-infected children. Improved survival, Black race and Hispanic ethnicity, and exposure to tenofovir, indinavir, and other antimicrobial agents increase the risk for renal dysfunction. All HIV-infected children should be monitored closely for evidence of renal disease.
Earnings Management and Ownership Retention for Initial Public Offering Firms: Theory and Evidence

This paper investigates, both theoretically and empirically, how earnings management and ownership retention interact, and how these two jointly affect the equilibrium market valuation of IPO firms in the presence of information asymmetry. Analytically, this paper extends the univariate signaling framework of Leland and Pyle (1977) and derives an efficient signaling equilibrium in which both reported earnings and ownership retention are endogenously chosen to convey the IPO issuer's private information. It is shown that even though either ownership retention or reported earnings communicates the issuer's type to the market unambiguously, the issuer will strategically employ both signals to achieve separation from potential lower quality imitators at minimal cost. Comparative statics analysis shows that the trade‐off between the two signals depends critically on the uncertainty over future earnings. The theoretical analysis generates several empirical implications regarding market efficiency, IPO pricing, .
Eurographics Symposium on Rendering (2004) a Lixel for Every Pixel

Shadow mapping is a very useful tool for generating shadows in many real-time rendering settings and is even used in some off-line renderers. One of the difficulties when using a shadow map is obtaining a sufficiently dense sampling on shadowed surfaces to minimize shadow aliasing. Endlessly upping the light-image resolution is not always a viable option. In this paper we describe a shadow mapping technique that guarantees, that over a small number of chosen planes of interest (such as a floor and a wall), the shadow map is, in fact, perfectly sampled, ie. for each pixel in the viewer camera, there will be exactly one lixel in the shadow map that samples the exact same geometric point.
Using Marital Status and Continuous Marital Satisfaction Ratings to Predict Depressive Symptoms in Married and Unmarried Women With Systemic Sclerosis: A Canadian Scleroderma Research Group Study

Married persons have, on average, better mental health than nonmarried persons. Among married persons, marital satisfaction is associated with better mental health. Studies on mental health in married and nonmarried persons that consider marital satisfaction have categorized patients as satisfied versus unsatisfied, which reduces statistical power and does not generate clinically useful information on mental health across the satisfaction spectrum. Our objective was to demonstrate a novel regression approach to evaluate mental health in women with systemic sclerosis (SSc), comparing married and unmarried women, accounting for continuously measured marital satisfaction.
A Constructive Semantics for ALC

One of the main concerns of constructive semantics is to provide a computational interpretation for the proofs of a given logic. In this paper we introduce a constructive semantics for the basic description logic ALC in the spirit of the BHK interpretation. We prove that such a semantics provides an interpretation of ALC formulas consistent with the classical one and we show how, according to such a semantics, proofs of a suitable natural deduction calculus for ALC support a proofs-asprograms paradigm.
Slow-Wave Oscillations in Awake Healthy Subjects: Methodological and Physiological Considerations

Purpose: Detection of pathologic slow-wave oscillations (0.5–7 Hz) in awake subjects has gained increasing interest in clinical diagnostics. Their significance, however, is hampered by the occasional presence of slow waves in healthy subjects, as well as the abundance of artefactual signals at low measurement frequencies. The aim of this study was to assess the occurrence of slow-wave oscillations in healthy subjects and to sharpen the management of possible measurement artifacts, in order to create a normative database for neurological patients. Methods: The authors analyzed magnetoencephalography recordings of spontaneous brain oscillations in 139 awake healthy adults. Sources of artifacts were first identified and suppressed by temporal extension of signal space separation method, and the remaining artifact components were projected out using signal space projection. Individual amplitude spectra were compared with the channel-level average spectra over all subjects. Results: Slow-wave oscillations deviating ±2 standard deviations from the average spectrum were detected in 12 subjects (∼9%). In 10 subjects, the oscillations were considered as normal physiological phenomena. Only two subjects showed activity that could have been interpreted as pathological: one subject with widespread parietal bilateral polyrhythmic slow-wave activity and one with focal rolandic 2.7-Hz slow-wave activity. Conclusions: The prevalence of slow-wave oscillations in a healthy adult population is low. Knowledge about their occurrence, however, is essential for interpreting their significance in brain diseases. Artifacts and benign oscillatory variants at slow frequencies have to be recognized.
Surface protein patterns govern morphology, proliferation, and expression of cellular markers but have no effect on physiological properties of cortical precursor cells

The ability to differentiate and give rise to neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes is an inherent feature of neural stem cells, which raises hopes for cell‐based therapies of neurodegenerative diseases. However, there are many hurdles to cross before such regimens can be applied clinically. A considerable challenge is to elucidate the factors that contribute to neural differentiation. In this study, we evaluated the possibility of steering neuronal maturation by growing cortical precursor cells on microscale surface patterns of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins. When the cells were encouraged to extend processes along lines of ECM proteins, they displayed a much more mature morphology, less proliferation capacity, and greater expression of a neuronal marker in comparison with cells grown in clusters on ECM dots. This implied that the growth pattern alone could play a crucial role for neural differentiation. However, in spite of the strikingly different morphology, when performing whole‐cell patch‐clamp experiments, we never observed any differences in the functional properties between cells grown on the two patterns. These results clearly demonstrate that morphological appearances are not representative measures of the functional phenotype or grade of neuronal maturation, stressing the importance of complementary electrophysiological evidence. To develop successful transplantation therapies, increased cell survival is critical. Because process‐bearing neurons are sensitive and break easily, it would be of clinical interest to explore further the differentiating capacity of the cells cultured on the ECM dot pattern, described in this article, which are devoid of processes but display the same functional properties as neurons with mature morphology. © 2008 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Investigation on influence of Wurster coating process parameters for the development of delayed release minitablets of Naproxen

Abstract The present work aims at studying process parameters affecting coating of minitablets (3 mm in diameter) through Wurster coating process. Minitablets of Naproxen with high drug loading were manufactured using 3 mm multi-tip punches. The release profile of core pellets (published) and minitablets was compared with that of marketed formulation. The core formulation of minitablets was found to show similarity in dissolution profile with marketed formulation and hence was further carried forward for functional coating over it. Wurster processing was implemented to pursue functional coating over core formulation. Different process parameters were screened and control strategy was applied for factors significantly affecting the process. Modified Plackett Burman Design was applied for studying important factors. Based on the significant factors and minimum level of coating required for functionalization, optimized process was executed. Final coated batch was evaluated for coating thickness, surface morphology, and drug release study.
Tasks, Domains, and Languages

The Fifth Message Understanding Conference (MUC-5) involved the same tasks, domains and languages as the information extraction portion of the ARPA TIPSTER program. These tasks center on automatically filling object-oriented data structures, called templates, with information extracted from free text in news stories (for discussion of templates and objects, see "Template Design for Information Extraction" in this volume). For each task, a generic type of information that is specified for extraction corresponds to each of the slots in the templates. With text as input, the MUC-5 systems first detect whether the text contains relevant information. If available, the systems extract specific instances of the generic types from the text and output that information by filling the template slots with the appropriately formatted data representations. These slots are then scored by using an automatic scoring program with analyst-produced templates as the keys. Human analysts also prepared development set templates for each domain, which served as training models for system developers (for discussion of the data preparation effort, see "Corpora and Data Preparation" in this volume).
Cancer stem cells and radioresistance

Abstract Purpose: Radiation therapy has made significant contributions to cancer treatment. However, despite continuous improvements, tumor recurrence and therapy resistance still occur in a high proportion of patients. One underlying reason for this radioresistance might be attributable to the presence of cancer stem cells (CSC). The purpose of this review is to discuss CSC-specific mechanisms that confer radiation resistance. Conclusions: We focus our discussions on breast cancer and glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and conclude that both CSC-intrinsic and CSC-extrinsic factors as well as adaptive responses in CSC caused by irradiation and microenvironmental changes all make contributions to CSC-mediated radioresistance. Our discussions emphasize CSC as novel therapeutic targets in order to potentiate radiotherapy efficacy.
Mathematical Modelling of Energy Wastage in Absence of Levelling and Sectoring in Wireless Sensor Networks

In this paper, we quantitatively (mathematically) reason the energy savings achieved by the Leveling and Sectoring protocol. Due to the energy constraints on the sensor nodes (in terms of supply of energy) energy awareness has become crucial in networking protocol stack. The understanding of routing protocols along with energy awareness in a network would help in energy opti-mization with efficient routing . We provide analytical modelling of the energy wastage in the absence of Leveling and Sectoring protocol by considering the network in the form of binary tree, nested tree and Q-ary tree. The simulation results reflect the energy wastage in the absence of Levelling and Sectoring based hybrid protocol.
Numerical Modeling of the Vapour Vortex Formation in the Short Heat Pipes

The results of the numerical studies of vortex formation inside short heat pipes (HP’s) with profiled vapour channel in the Laval-liked nozzle form are presented. For the first time, it was found that the vapour vortex of moist compressible vapour flow in the cooled part of vapour channel changes its rotational motion direction. The rotation direction of the toroidal vapour vortex, obtained by solving the Navier Stokes equations is dependent on the heat power value, entering to the HP’s evaporator. With low heat power loads the rotational direction of the circular toroidal vapour ring due to the Coanda effect and sticking moving vapour jets to the channel’s walls occurs from the periphery to the longitudinal axis of the vapour channel. While the heat power load increasing, the direction of the circular toroidal vapour ring rotation changes to the opposite, from the longitudinal axis to the periphery of the vapour channel. The thickness of the formed working fluid condensate film located under the toroidal vapour vortex also related to the evaporator heat power load and the associated toroidal vapour vortex rotation direction. The numerical thickness calculation of the formed working fluid condensate film located under the toroidal vapour vortex was compared with experimental values, obtained by capacitive sensors. The thickness values of the calculated condensate film thickness and experimentally measured values using capacitive sensors are close in magnitude order.