Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Field leakage reduction using a two-dimensional matched numerical dispersion method and high-order cubic curvilinear interpolation [em programmer's notebook]

In this study, the Total Field/Scattered Field (TF/SF) formulation, one of the methods used for effectively introducing far-field sources into the Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) Method, is described in detail. The incident fields required for the implementation of the TF/SF formulation were obtained by the Incident Field Array (IFA) Method. The errors introduced in the Incident Field Array Method were presented by numerical examples, and the Matched Numerical Dispersion (MND) Method was applied to a two-dimensional FDTD grid. It was also shown that for wideband pulse excitations, applying the Matched Numerical Dispersion Method to the TF/SF wave source reduced the field leakages nearly 200 dB (subject to double-precision implementation) compared to the Single-Frequency Compensation method for angles of incidence φ = 45. However, a similar improvement could not be obtained for an angle of incidence of φ =30. It was demonstrated that by using higher-order cubic curvilinear interpolation instead of the linear interpolation used in the Incident Field Array Method, the field leakage could be approximately reduced by 70 dB for an angle of incidence of φ = 45 . This higher-order interpolation technique is applicable for any time-dependent plane wave. A 1 GHz sinusoidal wave was used as the incident wave in the simulation.
Regulation of Connexin Degradation as a Mechanism to Increase Gap Junction Assembly and Function*

Connexins, the integral membrane protein constituents of gap junctions, are degraded at a rate (t 1 2 = 1.5–5 h) much faster than most other cell surface proteins. Although the turnover of connexins has been shown to be sensitive to inhibitors of either the lysosome or of the proteasome, how connexins are targeted for degradation and whether this process can be regulated to affect intercellular communication is unknown. We show here that reducing connexin degradation with inhibitors of the proteasome (but not with lysosomal blockers) is associated with a striking increase in gap junction assembly and intercellular dye transfer in cells inefficient in both processes under basal conditions. The effect of proteasome inhibitors on wild-type connexin stability, assembly, and function was mimicked by treatment of assembly-inefficient cells with inhibitors of protein synthesis such as cycloheximide. Sensitivity of connexin degradation to cycloheximide, but not to proteasome inhibitors, was abolished when connexins were rendered structurally abnormal by perturbation of essential disulfide bonds or by mutation. Our findings provide the first evidence that intercellular communication can be up-regulated at the level of connexin turnover and that a short-lived protein may be required for conformationally mature connexins to become substrates of proteasomal degradation.
Music therapy in the treatment of patients with neuro-behavioural disorders stemming from acquired brain injury

People with neuro-behavioural disorders following brain damage present carers with many challenges, particularly in cases where receptive language may be compromised. Music therapy can reduce behaviours such as anxiety and agitation, and promote positive behaviours in this population. However, empirical and descriptive investigations are lacking. Two single cases illustrate music therapy as part of an interdisciplinary treatment for adults with acquired complex neuro-behavioural disorders. We describe the inclusion of music therapy interventions delivered in graded programmes with two patients with challenging neuro-behavioural disorders. Improved functional abilities included participation and task completion in personal care tasks; acquisition and consistency of spoken language; increased independence; and decreased episodes of challenging behaviour during functional tasks. The findings suggest that music therapy may be effective in decreasing agitation and anxiety, overcoming initiation difficulties, and promoting positive behaviours in populations with neuro-behavioural disorders. Further investigation into the effects of music therapy with adults with neuro-behavioural disorders would assist with providing additional interventions to verbal de-escalation techniques.
Shape Recognition and Pose Estimation for Mobile Augmented Reality

Nestor is a real-time recognition and camera pose estimation system for planar shapes. The system allows shapes that carry contextual meanings for humans to be used as Augmented Reality (AR) tracking targets. The user can teach the system new shapes in real time. New shapes can be shown to the system frontally, or they can be automatically rectified according to previously learned shapes. Shapes can be automatically assigned virtual content by classification according to a shape class library. Nestor performs shape recognition by analyzing contour structures and generating projective-invariant signatures from their concavities. The concavities are further used to extract features for pose estimation and tracking. Pose refinement is carried out by minimizing the reprojection error between sample points on each image contour and its library counterpart. Sample points are matched by evolving an active contour in real time. Our experiments show that the system provides stable and accurate registration, and runs at interactive frame rates on a Nokia N95 mobile phone.
A Sensitive and Effective Proteomic Approach to Identify She-Donkey’s and Goat’s Milk Adulterations by MALDI-TOF MS Fingerprinting

She-donkey’s milk (DM) and goat’s milk (GM) are commonly used in newborn and infant feeding because they are less allergenic than other milk types. It is, therefore, mandatory to avoid adulteration and contamination by other milk allergens, developing fast and efficient analytical methods to assess the authenticity of these precious nutrients. In this experimental work, a sensitive and robust matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) profiling was designed to assess the genuineness of DM and GM milks. This workflow allows the identification of DM and GM adulteration at levels of 0.5%, thus, representing a sensitive tool for milk adulteration analysis, if compared with other laborious and time-consuming analytical procedures.
Influence of Prevastein®, an Isoflavone-Rich Soy Product, on Mammary Gland Development and Tumorigenesis in Tg.NK (MMTV/c-neu) Mice

Abstract: We investigated spontaneous mammary tumor development and mammary gland morphogenesis in female Tg.NK mice postnatally exposed to dietary soy isoflavones (0, 11, 39, and 130 mg aglycones/kg diet) added to a Western-style diet. Instead of preventing mammary tumorigenesis, the highest dose of isoflavones was associated with a small but significant increase in the number and size of tumors as compared to mice administered a Western-style control diet (P < 0.05). At postnatal Week 6, dynamic activity (measured as apoptotic density) at the highest dose and the degree of branching of the mammary tree in all isoflavone-exposed groups was increased as compared to controls (P < 0.05). At adulthood, the epithelium appeared more quiescent in the medium- and high-dose groups evident by reduced apoptotic density and a reduction in the percentage of terminal end buds (TEBs), respectively, as compared to controls (P < 0.05). The number of actively dividing cells within the TEBs was unaffected by isoflavone exposure as was the activity of drug-metabolizing and antioxidant enzymes. In conclusion, isoflavones may augment mammary gland and mammary tumor development.
MEDA: A machine emulation detection algorithm

Security in the Internet of Things (IoT) is now considered a priority, and trust in machine-to-machine (M2M) communications is expected to play a key role. This paper presents a mechanism to detect an emerging threat in M2M systems whereby an attacker may create multiple fake embedded machines using virtualized or emulated systems, in order to compromise either a targeted IoT device, or the M2M network. A new trust method is presented that is based on a characterisation of the behaviours of real embedded machines, and operates independently of their architectures and operating systems, in order to detect virtual and emulated systems. A range of tests designed to characterise embedded and virtual devices are presented, and the results underline the efficiency of the proposed solution for detecting these systems easily and quickly.
A framework for a Catholic Stakeholder core

Despite extensive connections to ethics and philosophy, the literature on stakeholder theory has largely avoided direct linkages to religion and spirituality. At the same time, Catholic Social Teaching and other religious traditions have ignored any meaningful discussion of stakeholder theory. This paper connects the stakeholder literature and religion by presenting a framework that specifies macro-level core Catholic Social Teaching tenets and the normative business obligations derived from this doctrine. These obligations ground Catholic Stakeholder Thinking which represents the attendant meso-level responsibilities of managers and firms, as well as the priority rules for resolving stakeholder conflicts. The resulting articulation of Catholic doctrine to business expands not only the normative depth of stakeholder theory, but also the practicality and relevance of Catholic Social Teaching. Through their interactions with various stakeholders, firms and managers are encouraged to pursue the common good and integral human development in solidarity with the poor within their value chains.
Surgical Resident Evaluations of Portable Laparoscopic Box Trainers Incorporated Into a Simulation-Based Minimally Invasive Surgery Curriculum

Introduction. Box trainers have been shown to be an effective tool for teaching laparoscopic skills; however, residents are challenged to find practice time. Portable trainers theoretically allow for extended hands on practice out of the hospital. We aimed to report resident experience with laparoscopic home box trainers. Methods. Over 2 years, all residents rotating through a minimally invasive service were given a portable trainer and access to a surgical simulation lab for practice. Each trainer contained a collapsible frame, a webcam with USB port, trocars, and laparoscopic instruments (needle driver, shears, Maryland and straight dissecting graspers) as well as Fundamentals of Laparoscopic Surgery skills testing materials. Residents were asked to log hours, usages, and their experience anonymously. Results. Twenty-three residents received a portable trainer. Fifty percent of the participants found the trainer useful or very useful, 25% said it was not useful, and 25% did not access the trainer. Those that used the trainer during their rotation did so 3.1 ± 3.0 times for 2.9 ± 3.0 hours/week. After completing their rotation, 5 of 12 residents used their trainer for an average of 10.2 ± 9.4 hours. Forty-two percent of the responders liked the accessibility of the home box trainers, while 25% criticized the camera–computer interface. Conclusions. Portable box trainers are useful and can effectively supplement a laboratory-based surgical simulation curriculum; however, personal possession of a portable simulator does not result in voluntarily long-term practice.
Feature Tracking and Motion Factorization from Monocular Video

Determining shape and structure of moving objects from a single-camera video of their motion has been an active research area. Good, robust solutions to this problem enable, for example, the detection of hand gestures and facial expressions of a human subject by observation from a single camera. The aim of this project is to study how feature tracking and motion factorization can be coupled to implement a complete, robust motion capture system that requires monocular input. We examine the popular KLT tracker, and some ways of making it more robust; and see how it works in conjunction with the Tomasi-Kanade factorization algorithm for rigid body motion.
Root cause detection in a service-oriented architecture

Large-scale websites are predominantly built as a service-oriented architecture. Here, services are specialized for a certain task, run on multiple machines, and communicate with each other to serve a user's request. An anomalous change in a metric of one service can propagate to other services during this communication, resulting in overall degradation of the request. As any such degradation is revenue impacting, maintaining correct functionality is of paramount concern: it is important to find the root cause of any anomaly as quickly as possible. This is challenging because there are numerous metrics or sensors for a given service, and a modern website is usually composed of hundreds of services running on thousands of machines in multiple data centers. This paper introduces MonitorRank, an algorithm that can reduce the time, domain knowledge, and human effort required to find the root causes of anomalies in such service-oriented architectures. In the event of an anomaly, MonitorRank provides a ranked order list of possible root causes for monitoring teams to investigate. MonitorRank uses the historical and current time-series metrics of each sensor as its input, along with the call graph generated between sensors to build an unsupervised model for ranking. Experiments on real production outage data from LinkedIn, one of the largest online social networks, shows a 26% to 51% improvement in mean average precision in finding root causes compared to baseline and current state-of-the-art methods.
An algebraic theory of dynamic network routing

We develop a non-classic algebraic theory for the purpose of investigating the convergence properties of dynamic routing protocols. The algebraic theory can be regarded as a generalization of shortest-path routing, where the new concept of free cycle generalizes that of a positive-length cycle. A primary result then states that routing protocols always converge, though not necessarily onto optimal paths, in networks where all cycles are free. Monotonicity and isotonicity are two algebraic properties that strengthen convergence results. Monotonicity implies protocol convergence in every network, and isotonicity assures convergence onto optimal paths. A great many applications arise as particular instances of the algebraic theory. In intra-domain routing, we show that routing protocols can be made to converge to shortest and widest paths, for example, but that the composite metric of Internet Gateway Routing Protocol (IGRP) does not lead to optimal paths. The more interesting applications, however, relate to inter-domain routing and its Border Gateway Protocol (BGP), where the algebraic framework provides a mathematical template for the specification, design, and verification of routing policies. We formulate existing guidelines for inter-domain routing in algebraic terms, propose new guidelines contemplating backup relationships between domains, and derive a sufficient condition for signaling correctness of internal-BGP.
Bone dynamics in the upward direction after a maxillary sinus floor elevation procedure: serial segmentation using synchrotron radiation micro-computed tomography

Objective Maxillary sinus floor augmentation has been shown to be the most predictable surgical technique for enhancing the bone volume in the posterior area of the maxilla. The purpose of this study was to analyze the serial slice image segmentation of newly formed bone and bone substitutes after sinus floor elevation using synchrotron radiation X-ray micro-computed tomography (SR-μCT). Materials and methods Bone biopsy specimens were collected after 6 months of sinus floor augmentation. From the six bone biopsy specimens, the cross-sectional images at every 8 μm along the apical direction from the inferior border using serial segmentation from three-dimensional reconstructed X-ray images were analyzed. The amount of new bone and bone substitutes were measured at each slicing image (300–430 images per specimen). Results The bone dynamics between the new bone and bone substitutes along the inferior–superior direction in humans after maxillary sinus floor elevation (MSFE) were analyzed using the whole sample region. Although these observations suggest that the specimens are structurally inhomogeneous, sinus floor elevation was confirmed to be a reliable surgical procedure for increasing the amount of bone. Conclusion SR-μCT is highly effective for obtaining high-resolution images. An analysis of biological specimens using SR-μCT is quite reliable and this technique will be an important tool in the wide field of tissue engineering.
Adoption, Improvement, and Disruption: Predicting the Impact of Open Source Applications in Enterprise Software Markets

This article develops a model of open source disruption in enterprise software markets. It addresses the question: Is free and open source software (FOSS) likely to disrupt markets for commercial enterprise software? The conventional wisdom is that open source provision works best for low-level system-oriented technologies, while large, complex enterprise business applications are best served by commercial software vendors. The authors challenge the conventional wisdom by developing a two-stage model of open source disruption in enterprise software markets that emphasizes a virtuous cycle of adoption and lead-user improvement of the software. The two stages are an initial incubation stage (the I-Stage) and a subsequent snowball stage (the S-Stage). Case studies of several FOSS projects demonstrate the modelâ€™s ex post predictive value. The authors then apply the model to SugarCRM, an emerging open source CRM application, to make ex ante predictions regarding its potential to disrupt commercial CRM incumbents.
Characterization of collagen from haddock skin and wound healing properties of its hydrolysates

Collagen, one of the most abundant structural proteins found in vertebrates, has been extensively used for biomedical applications. The objectives of this study were to isolate and characterize acid-soluble collagen (ASC) from haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) skins and to investigate the biological function of ASC hydrolysates in wound healing. Amino acid composition, SDS-PAGE and FTIR suggested that the ASC is most likely type I collagen with well-maintained helical structures. Both the denaturation and shrinkage temperatures of ASC isolated from haddock skins were lower than those of mammalian collagens. The average molecular weights of hydrolysates decreased with the increase in HCl concentration as well as hydrolysis times. ASC and hydrolysates with more molecules (53.8 kDa) decreased the bleeding and clotting times and promoted order 2 vessel formation effectively. All the experimental groups, including the ASC group and its hydrolysate groups, could accelerate epithelialization and shorten the wound healing time of mice. The ASC from haddock skin could therefore serve as an alternative collagen for skin wound healing.
Motivations for Reading Beauty and Fashion Magazines and Anorexic Risk in College-Age Women

A growing body of research has linked the reading of women's beauty and fashion magazines with the presence of eating-disordered thinking. Most of this research has focused on the relationship between the frequency with which women read and their potential anorexic risk. In the present study, the authors explore the connection between the motivations for reading and the presence of anorexic cognitions. Specifically, this study of 536 college-age women sought to determine which reading motivations might be the most p redictive of anorexic risk and whether those motivations would be differentially related to reading frequency and to scores on the Mizes Anorectic Cognitions Scale (MACS). To test the simultaneous contribution of the possible reading motivations on the two outcomes of interest, a structural equation model using AMOS 4.0 was generated. The findings from the model indicate that reading frequency and anorexic risk are largely predicted by divergent motivational factors. The reading frequency of beauty and fashion magazines was most strongly predicted by a woman's desire for selfimprovement. Anorexic risk, as measured by MACS scores, was best predicted
Synergistic chromatin repression of the tumor suppressor gene RARB in human prostate cancers

DNA methylation and polycomb proteins are well-known mediators of epigenetic silencing in mammalian cells. Usually described as mutually exclusive, this statement is today controversial and recent in vitro studies suggest the co-existence of both repressor systems. We addressed this issue in the study of Retinoic Acid Receptor β (RARβ), a tumor suppressor gene frequently silenced in prostate cancer. We found that the RARβ promoter is hypermethylated in all studied prostate tumors and methylation levels are positively correlated with H3K27me3 enrichments. Thus, by using bisulfite conversion and pyrosequencing of immunoprecipitated H3K27me3 chromatin, we demonstrated that DNA methylation and polycomb repression co-exist in vivo at this locus. We found this repressive association in 6/6 patient tumor samples of different Gleason score, suggesting a strong interplay of DNA methylation and EZH2 to silence RARβ during prostate tumorigenesis.
Model-based predictive control applied to multi-carrier energy systems

The optimal operation of an integrated electricity and natural gas infrastructure is investigated. The couplings between the electricity system and the gas system are modeled by so-called energy hubs, which represent the interface between the loads on the one hand and the transmission infrastructures on the other. To increase reliability and efficiency, storage devices are present in the multi-carrier energy system. In order to optimally incorporate these storage devices in the operation of the infrastructure, the capacity constraints and dynamics of these have to be taken into account explicitly. Therefore, we propose a model predictive control approach for controlling the system. This controller takes into account the present constraints and dynamics, and in addition adapts to expected changes of loads and/or energy prices. Simulations in which the proposed scheme is applied to a three-hub benchmark system are presented.
MVAPICH-PRISM: A proxy-based communication framework using InfiniBand and SCIF for Intel MIC clusters

Xeon Phi, based on the Intel Many Integrated Core (MIC) architecture, packs up to 1TFLOPs of performance on a single chip while providing x86_64 compatibility. On the other hand, InfiniBand is one of the most popular choices of interconnect for supercomputing systems. The software stack on Xeon Phi allows processes to directly access an InfiniBand HCA on the node and thus, provides a low latency path for internode communication. However, drawbacks in the state-of-the-art chipsets like Sandy Bridge limit the bandwidth available for these transfers. In this paper, we propose MVAPICH-PRISM, a novel proxy-based framework to optimize the communication performance on such systems. We present several designs and evaluate them using micro-benchmarks and application kernels. Our designs improve internode latency between Xeon Phi processes by up to 65% and internode bandwidth by up to five times. Our designs improve the performance of MPI_Alltoall operation by up to 65%, with 256 processes. They improve the performance of a 3D Stencil communication kernel and the P3DFFT library by 56% and 22% with 1,024 and 512 processes, respectively.