Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Usage of cloud applications by students

Posljednjih godina razvoj informacijske tehnologije ide u pravcu „racunarstva u oblaku“ koje se sve vise prihvaca i ima siroku primjenu u razlicitim podrucjima, pa tako i u obrazovanju, stoga se ovaj rad fokusira na mogucnosti primjene racunarstva u oblaku u visokoskolskim ustanovama te razmatra spremnost studenata za primjenu ove inovativne tehnologije. Rad se bavi jednim od modela racunarstva u oblaku, „softver kao usluga“ (SaaS), jer se polazi od pretpostavke da su studenti cesto mobilni, te da imaju potrebu pristupati aplikacijama i podacima s raznih uređaja i lokacija. Motivacija i percepcija dva su važna faktora koji utjecu na ponasanje, pa time pridonose uporabi nove tehnologije. Upravo su zbog toga ciljevi rada utvrditi motivaciju i percepciju studenata prema aplikacijama u oblaku te ucestalost njihova koristenja, kao i korelaciju među navedenim varijablama. Rezultati istraživanja pokazali su da postoji statisticki znacajna razlika i u motivaciji i u percepciji aplikacija u oblaku između studenata sa studija informatike i ostalih studijskih programa Veleucilista u Rijeci. S obzirom na broj racunala i mobilnih uređaja s kojih pristupaju internetu, utvrđena je statisticki znacajna razlika u motivaciji za uporabu usluga u oblaku, dok na percepciju to nije imalo znacajan utjecaj. Potvrđena je pozitivna korelacija između motivacije i uporabe aplikacija u oblaku, te percepcije i uporabe aplikacija u oblaku. Od najpoznatijih aplikacija u oblaku najvise se koriste one za komunikaciju i druženje, a najmanje uredske aplikacije.
Concurrent study of stability and cytotoxicity of a novel nanoemulsion system – an artificial neural networks approach

Abstract Problems commonly associated with using nanoemulsions are their cytotoxic effects and low stability profiles. Here, for the first time, concentrations of ingredients of a nanoemulsion system were investigated to obtain the most stable nanoemulsion system with the least cytotoxic effect on MCF7 cell line. Artificial neural networks (ANNs) were used to model the experimentally obtained data. Surfactant concentration was found to be the dominant factor in determining the stability – surfactant concentration above a critical point made the preparation unstable, while it appeared not to be influencing the cytotoxicity. Concentration of oil showed a direct relationship to the cytotoxicity with a minimum value required to provide an acceptable safety profile for the preparation. Co-surfactant appeared not to be considerably effective on neither stability nor cytotoxicity. To obtain the optimum preparation with maximum stability and minimum cytotoxicity, surfactant and oil values need to be kept at their maximum and minimum possible, respectively.
Variation in foliar δ13C values within the crowns of Pinus radiata trees

Summary Although herbaceous species generally show little within plant variation in δ 13 C, trees show large spatial and temporal differences. We found that the aspect of exposure and branch length accounted f or up to 6‰ δ 13 C difference within the foliage of individual trees of Pinus radiata D. Don. The foliage on branches 0.5 m in length was as much as 4‰ more depleted in 13 C than foliage on 10-m long branches, and an additional 2‰ more depleted on the shaded side than on the exposed side. We confirmed th at on clear days, relative branch hydraulic conductivity, defined as the ratio of transpiration to the water potential gradient, was much higher in short branches than in long branches. Stomatal conduct ance remained high in foliage on short branches during the day, whereas it declined progressively in long-branch foliage under similar conditions. These differences were sufficient to explai n the observed variation in δ 13 C in foliage on long and short branches.
Activity understanding and unusual event detection in surveillance videos

Computer scientists have made ceaseless efforts to replicate cognitive video understanding abilities of human brains onto autonomous vision systems. As video surveillance cameras become ubiquitous, there is a surge in studies on automated activity understanding and unusual event detection in surveillance videos. Nevertheless, video content analysis in public scenes remained a formidable challenge due to intrinsic difficulties such as severe inter-object occlusion in crowded scene and poor quality of recorded surveillance footage. Moreover, it is nontrivial to achieve robust detection of unusual events, which are rare, ambiguous, and easily confused with noise. This thesis proposes solutions for resolving ambiguous visual observations and overcoming unreliability of conventional activity analysis methods by exploiting multi-camera visual context and human feedback. The thesis first demonstrates the importance of learning visual context for establishing reliable reasoning on observed activity in a camera network. In the proposed approach, a new Cross Canonical Correlation Analysis (xCCA) is formulated to discover and quantify time delayed pairwise correlations of regional activities observed within and across multiple camera views. This thesis shows that learning time delayed pairwise activity correlations offers valuable contextual information for (1) spatial and temporal topology inference of a camera network, (2) robust person re-identification, and (3) accurate activity-based video temporal segmentation. Crucially, in contrast to conventional methods, the proposed approach does not rely on either intra-camera or inter-camera object tracking; it can thus be applied to low-quality surveillance videos featuring severe inter-object occlusions. Second, to detect global unusual event across multiple disjoint cameras, this thesis extends visual context learning from pairwise relationship to global time delayed dependency between regional activities. Specifically, a Time Delayed Probabilistic Graphical Model (TD-PGM) is proposed to model the multi-camera activities and their dependencies. Subtle global unusual events are detected and localised using the model as context-incoherent patterns across multiple camera views. In the model, different nodes represent activities in different decomposed re-
Cutaneous Perforators of the Forearm: Anatomic Study For Clinical Application

We studied the distribution of constant cutaneous perforators of the forearm. A total of 25 amputated forearms of 13 Korean fresh cadavers were used for the study. The specimens were fixed in formaldehyde solution and phenol mixture in low concentration. Red latex was injected into the axillary arteries of 8 specimens, and lead oxide-gelatin mixture (radiopaque material) was given into another 8. And then the cutaneous perforators were isolated by dissection and radiographed. Free fasciocutaneous flaps with the pedicles of cutaneous perforators were exploited in 9 specimens. Two fasciocutaneous perforators were constant on the flexor surface and 3 on the extensor side. Most of the emerging points of 2 flexor perforators were within each circle, with 2.5 cm (87.5%) and 3.0 cm (75%) in diameter, respectively. Most of the emerging points of 3 extensor perforators were within each circle, with 2.0 cm (87.5%), 1.5 cm (75%), and 2.0 cm (87.5%) in diameter, respectively. A knowledge of constant perforators of the forearm is conducive to the free skin cutaneous flaps to be designed safely.
Vascular function and endothelin-1: tipping the balance between vasodilation and vasoconstriction.

Endothelin-1 (ET-1), a potent vasoconstrictor secreted by vascular endothelial cells, has been implicated in the pathophysiology of numerous cardiovascular diseases, yet the direct impact of ET-1 on vascular function remains unclear. Therefore, in seven young (23 ± 1 yr) healthy subjects, we investigated the effect of an intra-arterial infusion of ET-1 on reactive hyperemia (RH) and flow-mediated dilation (FMD) in the popliteal artery following 5 min of suprasystolic cuff occlusion. ET-1 infusion significantly attenuated basal leg blood flow (control: 62 ± 4 ml/min, ET-1: 47 ± 9 ml/min), RH [area-under-curve (AUC); control: 162 ± 15 ml, ET-1: 104 ± 16 ml], and peak RH (control: 572 ± 51 ml/min, ET-1: 412 ± 32 ml/min) (P < 0.05). Administration of ET-1 also reduced FMD (control: 2.4 ± 0.3%, ET-1: 0.5 ± 0.5%) and FMD normalized for shear rate (control: 10.5 × 10-4 ± 2.0 × 10-4%/s-1, ET-1: 0.9 × 10-4 ± 2.8 ×10-4%/s-1). These findings reveal that elevated levels of ET-1 have a significant impact on vascular function, indicating that studies employing RH and FMD as markers of microvascular function and nitric oxide bioavailability, respectively, should exercise caution, as ET-1 can impact these assessments by tipping the balance between vasodilation and vasoconstriction, in favor of the latter.NEW & NOTEWORTHY Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is recognized as the body's most potent endogenous vasoconstrictor, but the impact of this peptide on vascular function is not well understood. The present study revealed that the intra-arterial administration of ET-1 impaired both microvascular and conduit vessel function of the leg in young, healthy, humans. Studies employing vascular testing in patient cohorts that experience a disease-related increase in ET-1 should thus exercise caution, as ET-1 clearly impairs vascular function.
Biological Response to &bgr;-Tricalcium Phosphate/Calcium Sulfate Synthetic Graft Material: An Experimental Study

Purpose:The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a biphasic synthetic bone graft material composed of &bgr;-tricalcium phosphate (&bgr;-TCP) and calcium sulfate (CS) in 12 New Zealand rabbits. Materials and Methods:A circular bicortical critical-size cranial defect was created in each of 12 rabbits. The defects were grafted with &bgr;-TCP/CS. Animals were euthanized at 3 and 6 weeks. Harvested tissue specimens were evaluated histologically and histomorphometrically. Parameters associated with new bone formation and graft resorption were measured and calculated. The results were statistically analyzed using the Mann-Whitney test. Results:Our data demonstrated the biocompatibility of synthetic &bgr;-TCP/CS, as no inflammatory response was observed, and no fibrosis was developed between the graft particles and the newly formed bone. Moreover, &bgr;-TCP/CS acted as an osteoconductive scaffold that allowed a significant bone regeneration and graft biodegradation with time. Conclusion:In this animal model, synthetic &bgr;-TCP/CS proved to be a biocompatible, osteoconductive, and bioresorbable bone graft substitute.
ritical shortage of new antibiotics in development against multidrug-resistant acteria — Time to react is now aura

Two commercial databases (Pharmaprojects and Adis Insight R&D) were queried for antibacterial agents in clinical development. Particular attention was given to antibacterial agents for systemic administration. For each agent, reviewers were requested to indicate whether its spectrum of activity covered a set of selected multidrug-resistant bacteria, and whether it had a new mechanism of action or a new target. In addition, PubMed was searched for antibacterial agents in development that appeared in review articles. Out of 90 agents that were considered to fulfil the inclusion criteria for the analysis, 66 were new active substances. Fifteen of these could be systemically administered and were assessed as acting via a new or possibly new mechanism of action or on a new or possibly new target. Out of these, 12 agents were ntibacterial drug development ovel antimicrobials ultidrug resistant bacteria ap-analysis MA assessed as having documented in vitro activity against antibiotic-resistant Gram-positive bacteria and only four had documented in vitro activity against antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. Of these four, two acted on new or possibly new targets and, crucially, none acted via new mechanisms of action. There is an urgent need to address the lack of effective treatments to meet the increasing public health burden caused by multidrug-resistant bacteria, in particular against Gram-negative bacteria. CDC eAct The views expressed in this article are the personal views of the authors. Those iews may not be understood or quoted as being made on behalf, or reflecting, the osition of ECDC, or of the EMA or one of its committees or working parties. ∗ Corresponding author at: Action on Antibiotic Resistance (ReAct), Department f Medical Sciences, Uppsala University, Box 256, SE-75105 Uppsala, Sweden. Tel. : 46 18 471 6607; fax: +46 18 471 6609. E-mail address: otto.cars@medsci.uu. se (O. Cars). 1 Ragnar Norrby (Swedish Institute for Infectious Disease Control, Solna, Sweden; CDC-EMA Working Group), Mair Powell (MHRA, London, United Kingdom; ECDCMA Working Group), Dominique L. Monnet (ECDC, Stockholm, Sweden; ECDC-EMA orking Group), Bo Aronsson (EMA, London, United Kingdom; ECDC-EMA Working roup), Irja Lutsar (University of Tartu, Tartu, Estonia; ECDC-EMA Working Group), oan Bocsan (Iuliu Hatieganu University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, omania; ECDC-EMA Working Group), Helen Giamarellou (Hygeia Hospital, Athens, reece; ECDC-EMA Working Group), Otto Cars (ReAct, Uppsala, University, Sweden; CDC-EMA Working Group) and Inge C. Gyssens (Radboud University Medical Cenre and CWZ Hospital Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands; ECDC-EMA Working
Throughput enhancement in wireless slotted ALOHA with space-time coding and collision processing

In this paper, we study the throughput enhancement in a wireless slotted ALOHA system, where all users transmit space-time coded information sequences and the destination is able to separate a given number of collided packets. These users operate with the slotted ALOHA protocol to access to the wireless channel resulting in a high probability of collision. To increase the packet throughput of such a system, we propose to separate the collided packets at the destination with a successive interference canceller that performs joint detection: channel estimation and data detection. The multi-user detector that we propose exploits the benefits of both the collision processing and the space-time signature induced by the Alamouti-type space-time block coding to improve the throughput. The validity of the proposed algorithm is highlighted by simulation results.
Restricted Likelihood Ratio Tests in Nonparametric Longitudinal Models Short title: Restricted LR Tests in Longitudinal Models

We assume that repeated measurements are taken on each of several subjects that are randomly sampled from some population. The observations on a particular subject are expressed as the sum of an average curve for the population and a deviation of the subject’s curve from the average plus independent errors. Both curves are modeled nonparametrically as splines. We use roughness penalties on the splines, which is equivalent to assuming a linear mixed model. Within this linear mixed model, we consider likelihood ratio tests of several scientifically relevant hypotheses about the two curves, for example, that the subject deviations are all zero or that they are each constant. The large-sample null distributions of the test statistics are shown to be non-standard, but we develop bootstrap techniques that can compute the exact null distributions much more rapidly than a direct application of the bootstrap.
Spatiotemporal and Ecological Patterns of Mycobacterium microti Infection in Wild Boar (Sus scrofa).

Mycobacterium microti has recently been described as the causative agent of tuberculosis-like lesions in wild boar (Sus scrofa), a reservoir specie of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) in some European Mediterranean ecosystem. Through a five-year survey on tuberculosis in free-living wild boars, the epidemiological trend of M. microti infections and the host and population risk factors linked with its occurrence were described. Retropharyngeal and mandibular lymph nodes of 3041 hunted wild boars from six different districts were macroscopically inspected. The sex and age of each animal were registered, as well as the animal abundance in each district. Lesions compatible with tuberculosis (190) were collected and analysed using a gyrB PCR-RFLP assay. M. microti was identified directly in 99 tissue samples (Prev = 3.26%; 95% CI: 2.67-3.97%), while neither Mycobacterium bovis, nor other members of the MTBC were detected. The probability of being M. microti positive showed spatio-temporal variability, with 26% of increase of risk of being infected for each year. Moreover, a positive effect of wild boar abundance and age on the prevalence was detected. The generalized increase in the European wild boar population, coupled with its sensitivity to M. microti infection, poses a future concern for the identification and management of MTBC members in wild boar.
A compact bandpass filter using quarter SIW cavity resonator with source-load cross coupling

A novel source-load cross-coupling bandpass filter using a quarter substrate integrated waveguide (SIW) cavity resonator is presented in this paper. Compared with the conventional SIW cavity resonator, the size reduction of the new filter is up to 75%. The resonator is realized by a rectangle patch shorted by two right-angle metallic lines via holes. The dominant resonant mode of the proposed resonator is TE101 mode. The proposed filter shows a 6.2% fractional bandwidth at 3.5 GHz with a return loss of better than −21 dB and an insertion loss of less than −2.1 dB.
Identification of a Novel Virulence Factor in Recombinant Pneumonia Virus of Mice

ABSTRACT Pneumonia virus of mice (PVM) is a murine relative of human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV). Here we developed a reverse genetics system for PVM based on a consensus sequence for virulent strain 15. Recombinant PVM and a version engineered to express green fluorescent protein replicated as efficiently as the biological parent in vitro but were 4- and 12.5-fold attenuated in vivo, respectively. The G proteins of HRSV and PVM have been suggested to contribute to viral pathogenesis, but this had not been possible to study in a defined manner in a fully permissive host. As a first step, we evaluated recombinant mutants bearing a deletion of the entire G gene (ΔG) or expressing a G protein lacking its cytoplasmic tail (Gt). Both G mutants replicated as efficiently in vitro as their recombinant parent, but both were nonpathogenic in mice at doses that would otherwise be lethal. We could not detect replication of the ΔG mutant in mice, indicating that its attenuation is based on a severe reduction in the virus load. In contrast, the Gt mutant appeared to replicate as efficiently in mice as its recombinant parent. Thus, the reduction in virulence associated with the Gt mutant could not be accounted for by a reduction in viral replication. These results identified the cytoplasmic tail of G as a virulence factor whose effect is not mediated solely by the viral load. In addition to its intrinsic interest, a recombinant virus that replicates with wild-type-like efficiency but does not cause disease defines optimal properties for vaccine development.
Some Factors Influencing Outcome After Keratoprosthesis Surgery

Eleven patients with severe corneal disease have been operated with a collarbutton-shaped keratoprosthesis and have been followed for 9-36 months. Two of the devices have been removed, but the remainder are securely in place. Six of the patients have benefitted substantially in terms of improved vision. The complications have been reviewed, and some factors for success have been identified. Thus, to keep the keratoprosthesis temporarily buried beneath tissue (conjunctiva or skin), application of collagenase-suppressing medication and reduction of evaporative damage to the wound around the device seem particularly important.
Cut-and-Fold: Automatic 3D modeling from a single image

This paper presents a novel approach to automatically generate a plausible 3D model from a single outdoor image. Outdoor scene can be modeled as a set of planar billboards such as ground, sky and vertical trees or buildings. This Cut-and-Fold system takes the advantages of the statistical classification method for high-level geometric labeling of the image regions and the automatic image segmentation algorithm for detailed boundaries of the geometric regions to generate accurate geometric labeling and realistic rendering of novel views. Taking a single image as input, our method first roughly classifies each sub-region to the geometric categories: vertical, ground or sky. Then image segmentation algorithm is employed to refine the labeling results and generate accurate boundaries for the geometric regions. After cutting the image into several regions with their geometric labels, the system folds the regions into 3D billboards with accurate boundaries. The experimental results demonstrate that our method is capable of creating plausible 3D models automatically for a wide range of outdoor scenes.
Estimating the Angles of Arrival of Multiple Plane Waves

The problem of estimating the angles of arrival of M plane waves incident simultaneously on a line array with L + 1 (L¿M) sensors utilizing the special eigenstructure of the covariance matrix C of the signal plus noise at the output of the array is addressed. A polynomial D(z) with special properties is constructed from the eigenvectors of C, the zeros of which give estimates of the angle of arrival. Although the procedure turns out to be essentially the same as that developed by Reddi, the development presented here provides insight into the estimation problem.
STAT3 Participates in Transcriptional Activation of the C-reactive Protein Gene by Interleukin-6 (*)

Interleukin-6 (IL-6) is the major cytokine inducing transcription of human C-reactive protein (CRP) during the acute phase response. STAT (signal transducers and activators of transcription) family members, recently shown to be important mediators of the effects of many cytokines including IL-6, generally induce their effects by binding to palindromic sequences with TT(N)AA motifs. We report an IL-6 responsive element in the proximal region of the human CRP 5′-flanking region that bears a TT(N)AA motif, which we have termed CRP acute phase response element (CRP-APRE). In Hep3B cells, IL-6 but not interferon- was capable of activating CAT constructs driven by the CRP promoter containing CRP-APRE. Overexpressed STAT3 was able to transactivate CRP-chloramphenicol acetyltransferase constructs through the CRP-APRE and was able to enhance endogenous CRP mRNA accumulation in response to IL-6. STAT3 (or an antigenically related molecule) bound to the CRP-APRE in response to IL-6. Overexpression of STAT3 in the presence of IL-6 was capable of inducing expression of a construct consisting of the CRP-APRE and a minimal thymidine kinase promoter lacking a C/EBP site. Taken together, these findings indicate that STAT3 participates in the transcriptional activation of CRP in response to IL-6.
Multiple band reconfigurable dual H-shaped patch antenna

The purpose of this research is to design such microstrip patch antenna which has multiple band of frequencies and has ability to change its operating frequency and main lobe direction electronically using switches. The proposed antenna has dual H-Shape with two switches at the bottom which can operate in four different state of switching, each state of switching has multiple operating frequency band which means a single antenna can cover different wireless applications of GPS, GSM, ISM and many others at the same time. This antenna can be designed for any desired operating frequency by shifting the position of switch which is demonstrated in the analysis section of the paper. All results of S-parameter and radiation pattern of four different state of switches are briefly described in this paper.