Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Non-local susceptibility for a bounded homogenized wire medium in the spatial domain

Here, we present different formulations for wave interaction problems of bounded homogenized wire media in the spatial domain. We demonstrate that two previous methods based on the wave expansion and transport equation are equivalent to each other, and to a charge carrier model involving particle reflection at the boundary. The role of a virtual interface is discussed, and it is found to be analogous to that for natural excitonic materials. An important observation is that the non-local susceptibility x(r, r') for a non-translationally invariant homogenized wire medium is represented by a Green's function in the spatial domain subject to boundary conditions at the material boundaries.
K‐ras mutations and N‐ras mutations in childhood acute leukemias with or without mixed‐lineage leukemia gene rearrangements

It is believed that Ras mutations drive the proliferation of leukemic cells. The objective of this study was to investigate the association of Ras mutations with childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and acute myeloid leukemia (AML) with special reference to the presence or absence of mixed‐lineage leukemia gene (MLL) rearrangements.
New frontiers in human assisted reproduction ‑ from research to clinical practice: Several considerations (Review).

In the era of very late, or advanced, motherhood, in which 'egg banks', 'social' egg‑freezing, egg donation and surrogacy represent a potential solution to a number of obstacles to human reproduction, what is the role of scientists and clinicians involved in assisted reproduction? In light of the apprehension that, in the future, through fertility treatment infertility may be passed on to the offspring, boundaries of medical vs. 'social' infertility are being created. Scientists and clinicians are joining forces in a synergistic effort to improve the effectiveness of infertility care by introducing novel therapeutic protocols with the intent of customising care and improving cost‑effectiveness, testing novel drugs and formulations, and searching for novel markers (for estimating biological age) and nomograms (to optimise the yield of a controlled ovarian hyperstimulation cycle). On the other hand, political, social and health institutions are doing little to educate young women with respect to disinformation and to increase their awareness regarding age as the predominant factor that contributes towards the decline in fertility. Nevertheless, despite the great advances that have been made, 38 years after the birth of the first baby via in vitro fertilisation, the intricate road leading from the antral follicle to the fully developed baby continues to be designated as being too 'expensive', 'empirical', 'mysterious' or 'bound by ethics', with few significant improvements in terms of real cost‑effectiveness.
Sub-THz micromachined waveguides for wafer level integration of MMICs

We demonstrate first results towards sub-THz integration system based on micromachined waveguides on Silicon. The demonstrated components at 270 GHz include waveguides, filters and vias, as well as a loss-low transition between the waveguide and the MMIC. The developed process relies on well known MEMS manufacturing methods and Silicon wafer substrates, promising scalable and cost efficient system integration method for future communication and sensing applications.
Development of Algorithms for the Study of the Image in Digital Form for Satellite Applications: Extraction of a Road Network and Its Nodes

In this paper we propose a novel methodology for extracting a road network and its nodes from satellite images of Algeria country. This developed technique is a progress of our previous research works. It is founded on the information theory and the mathematical morphology; the information theory and the mathematical morphology are combined together to extract and link the road segments to form a road network and its nodes. We therefore have to define objects as sets of pixels and to study the shape of these objects and the relations that exist between them. In this approach, geometric and radiometric features of roads are integrated by a cost function and a set of selected points of a crossing road. Its performances were tested on satellite images of Algeria country. Keywords—Satellite image, road network, nodes.
Gaze estimation using EEG signals for HCI in augmented and virtual reality headsets

Augmented and virtual reality have evolved significantly over the last few years providing new ways of entertainment and interaction with the environment. Although many systems and solutions are currently available, still there is much left unsettled and some technologies are missing from many VR/AR devices, such as foveated rendering and HCI. In this paper, a novel approach for coarse gaze estimation using EEG sensors with applications in items selection for HCI or foveated rendering for VR/AR devices is proposed. The suggested method requires only few electroencephalogram sensors that can be easily added to the current virtual and augmented reality headsets. A supervised machine leaning approach was suggested utilising novel features, based on quaternions allowing gaze estimation. Experiments were performed to evaluate the proposed method and a new dataset was designed and captured. Finally, the introduced learning framework was compared with other similar techniques demonstrating further the gain of the proposed descriptors.
Placebo response in pain, fatigue, and performance: Possible implications for neuromuscular disorders

The placebo response in neuromuscular disorders is not well understood. The only available data regarding its underlying mechanisms are related to neuropathic pain. In this review, we describe the factors that contribute to improved outcomes in the placebo arm, with specific attention to pain and fatigue, as well as some of the most important psychobiological mechanisms that may explain such a response. This approach may also improve our insight into the symptomatology and therapeutic responses of other neuromuscular disorders. The fact that >90% of tested analgesics for neuropathic pain have failed in advanced phases of clinical trials should prompt a greater investment of effort and resources into understanding the mechanisms and impact of placebos in clinical research. Such an endeavor will help improve the design of clinical trials and will provide information that informs clinical neuromuscular practice. Muscle Nerve 56: 358–367, 2017
Pulmonary Interstitial Macrophages: Isolation and Flow Cytometric Comparisons With Alveolar Macrophages and Blood Monocytes

Pulmonary interstitial macrophages (IM) were isolated from rat lungs by an Fcγ receptor‐based affinity technique coupled with multiparameter flow cytometry. Single cell suspensions obtained by collagenase digestion of extensively perfused and lavaged lungs were applied to carpets of opsonized sheep red blood cells (SRBC‐IgG) bound to plastic tissue culture flasks. At 0‐4°, optimal binding of lung cells occurred within 60 min at plating densities of 1‐2 × 106 lung cells/cm2 when the SRBC substrate was opsonized with 10 μg/ml anti‐SRBC IgG. Nonadherent cells were removed by gently rinsing the plates and adherent cells were recovered by lysing the SRBC‐IgG substrata. By light microscopy, the mixture of adherent cells was comprised of mononuclear cells (~ 54%), many of which appeared to be macrophages, lymphocytes (~20%), polymorphonuclear leukocytes (~15%), plasma cells (~8%), eosinophils (~2%), and mast cells (~0.5%). The cells which adhered to the SRBC‐IgG monolayers were further resolved into subpopulations by multiparameter flow cytometry and sorted according to their electro‐optical characteristics. One subpopulation appeared morphologically to be macrophages, and >90% of these cells readily phagocytized SRBC‐IgG in vitro. Peroxidase staining of this population was minimal, indicating that these cells were not blood monocytes (BM). Using a method by which alveolar macrophages (AM) were prelabeled with SRBC‐IgG in situ, we demonstrated that alveolar macrophages constituted only ~5% of the total adherent cell population. We concluded from these observations that the macrophage population harvested in this manner were neither BM nor AM, but, rather, were harvested from the lung's interstitial compartment. Flow cytometric analyses indicated that the IM exhibited electro‐optical characteristics intermediate between those of BM and AM, which is consistent with the concept of the lung's interstitium as a maturation compartment for the BM prior to migration into the alveolar compartment. However, the IM more closely resembled the BM than the AM, indicating that if the IM is in fact a precursor to the AM population, substantial maturation or differentiation must occur subsequent to its migration into the alveolar compartment. This isolation technique will be useful for harvesting highly purified IM for in vitro investigations.
Scaffolds for partial meniscal replacement: an updated systematic review.

INTRODUCTION Meniscectomy, a most common orthopaedic procedure, results in increased contact area of the articular surfaces of tibia and femur leading to early osteoarthritis. We systematically review the literature on clinical outcomes following partial meniscal replacement using different scaffolds. SOURCES OF DATA We performed a comprehensive search of Medline, CINAHL, Embase and the Cochrane Central Registry of Controlled Trials. The reference lists of the selected articles were then examined by hand. Only studies focusing on investigation of clinical outcomes on patients undergoing a partial meniscal replacement using a scaffold were selected. We then evaluated the methodological quality of each article using the Coleman methodology score (CMS), a 10 criteria scoring list assessing the methodological quality of the selected studies (CMS). AREAS OF AGREEMENT Fifteen studies were included, all prospective studies, but only 2 were randomized controlled trials. Biological scaffolds were involved in 12 studies, 2 studies investigated synthetic scaffolds, whereas 1 remaining article presented data from the use of both classes of device. The mean modified CMS was 64.6. AREAS OF CONTROVERSY Several demographic and biomechanical factors could influence the outcomes of this treatment modality. GROWING POINTS Partial replacement using both classes of scaffolds achieves significant and encouraging improved clinical results when compared with baseline values or with controls when present, without no adverse reaction related to the device. RESEARCH There is a need for more and better designed randomized trials, to confirm with a stronger level of evidence the promising preliminary results achieved by the current research.
Directional couplers from 30 to 140GHz in silicon

In this paper directional couplers with reduced size, by lumped elements, inverted microstrip, and broadside coupled lines at 61, 110, and 122 GHz center frequency and up to 156-GHz bandwidth have been designed. The couplers show an isolation up to 40 dB. Different SiGe BiCMOS technologies with 250-nm and 130-nm feature width and 5 to 7 metal layers have been used. The measurement results have been compared to simulation results and good agreement has been observed.
Chain gear design using artificial neural networks

In this study, the analytical calculation and analysis for the data corresponding to these gears have been made to obtain alternative test and training data sets to be used at the artificial neural networks(ANNs) with the constraints and requirements for the design of chain gears of power and motion transmission mechanisms are determined. In the input layer, the constraints and requirement values(input power, number of revolution of the pinion, number of revolution of the gear and center distance) of chain gears are used while at the output layer chain code(i.e., the chain gear type and chain sequence number), specifying the functional and physical properties, is used. Then the network is tested with the test data. The analytical calculation results and ANN predictions are compared by using statistical error analyzing methods such as absolute fraction of variance(R2), root mean square error(RMSE), and mean error percentage(MEP) for the training and test data. The chain code has been determined by the ANN with an acceptable accuracy. It is concluded that ANNs can be used as an alternative method in chain gear design. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Comput Appl Eng Educ 20: 38–44, 2012
Online ARIMA Algorithms for Time Series Prediction

Autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) is one of the most popular linear models for time series forecasting due to its nice statistical properties and great flexibility. However, its parameters are estimated in a batch manner and its noise terms are often assumed to be strictly bounded, which restricts its applications and makes it inefficient for handling large-scale real data. In this paper, we propose online learning algorithms for estimating ARIMA models under relaxed assumptions on the noise terms, which is suitable to a wider range of applications and enjoys high computational efficiency. The idea of our ARIMA method is to reformulate the ARIMA model into a task of full information online optimization (without random noise terms). As a consequence, we can online estimation of the parameters in an efficient and scalable way. Furthermore, we analyze regret bounds of the proposed algorithms, which guarantee that our online ARIMA model is provably as good as the best ARIMA model in hindsight. Finally, our encouraging experimental results further validate the effectiveness and robustness of our method.
Commande de machine asynchrone sans capteur de vitesse : Application à la traction ferroviaire

Le probleme de la commande de machine asynchrone sans capteur mecanique de vitesse est tres etudie dans les domaines de l'automatique et de l'electrotechnique. Ce travail porte sur la faisabilite de ce type de commande sur l'ensemble de la plage de vitesse et pour tout type de machine asynchrone afin d'etre utilisee en traction ferroviaire. Une etude poussee de l'observabilite permet de definir une mesure quantitative continue de l'observabilite de la vitesse de la machine, appelee index d'observabilite. La synthese d'un observateur confirme ainsi la correspondance entre les zones de faible index d'observabilite et celles ou l'observation est de mauvaise qualite. L'index d'observabilite defini dans cette these permet donc de predire les performances d'observation d'un systeme. L'originalite principale des travaux presentes tient dans l'utilisation de cet index d'observabilite dans la commande de la machine asynchrone sans capteur mecanique de vitesse. En tirant profit du degre de liberte qu'offre la variation d'amplitude du flux, nous proposons de garantir un index d'observabilite au-dessus d'un seuil tout en respectant les autres contraintes de la commande. L'observation de la vitesse devient alors precise sur toute la plage de vitesse, et un fonctionnement long est possible en tout point sans perturber le couple realise. Des experimentations sur simulateur numerique viennent confirmer ces resultats, y compris lors de phases de patinage. L'observation des parametres electriques est egalement etudiee afin de garantir la precision de l'observation de vitesse. Pour cela, la sensibilite de l'observation de vitesse aux variations de parametres electriques et l'observabilite de ces parametres sont etudiees, permettant de definir une nouvelle strategie d'observation des parametres electriques. Des essais sur banc de puissance, puis en application reelle sur un train regional, valident les performances de la commande sans capteur de vitesse proposee sur toute la plage de vitesse, et son adequation aux contraintes d'une application ferroviaire.
Extranuclear estrogen receptor-α stimulates NeuroD1 binding to the insulin promoter and favors insulin synthesis

Estrogen receptors (ERs) protect pancreatic islet survival in mice through rapid extranuclear actions. ERα also enhances insulin synthesis in cultured islets. Whether ERα stimulates insulin synthesis in vivo and, if so, through which mechanism(s) remain largely unknown. To address these issues, we generated a pancreas-specific ERα knockout mouse (PERαKO−/−) using the Cre-loxP strategy and used a combination of genetic and pharmacologic tools in cultured islets and β cells. Whereas 17β-estradiol (E2) treatment up-regulates pancreatic insulin gene and protein content in control ERαlox/lox mice, these E2 effects are abolished in PERαKO−/− mice. We find that E2-activated ERα increases insulin synthesis by enhancing glucose stimulation of the insulin promoter activity. Using a knock-in mouse with a mutated ERα eliminating binding to the estrogen response elements (EREs), we show that E2 stimulation of insulin synthesis is independent of the ERE. We find that the extranuclear ERα interacts with the tyrosine kinase Src, which activates extracellular signal-regulated kinases1/2, to increase nuclear localization and binding to the insulin promoter of the transcription factor NeuroD1. This study supports the importance of ERα in β cells as a regulator of insulin synthesis in vivo.
Dielectric Bed of Nails in Gap-Waveguide Technology at Millimeter-Wave Frequencies

Gap-waveguide technology is based on the guidance of a quasi-TEM mode between two PEC plates. The confinement is possible due to a PEC/PMC condition on laterals, which prohibits the propagation of waves on those directions. PMC condition is commonly created by means of a metallic bed of nails. This letter examines the possibility of using a dielectric bed of nails to impose the PMC condition. The use of such kind of nails may facilitate the insertion of active components. Measurements for a straight transmission line and a power divider are included to verify the correct behavior of the dielectric bed of nails.
Stress Hormones: A Link between Maternal Condition and Sex‐Biased Reproductive Investment

In species where offspring fitness is sex‐specifically influenced by maternal reproductive condition, sex allocation theory predicts that poor‐quality mothers should invest in the evolutionarily less expensive sex. Despite an accumulation of evidence that mothers can sex‐specifically modulate investment in offspring in relation to maternal quality, few mechanisms have been proposed as to how this is achieved. We explored a hormonal mechanism for sex‐biased maternal investment by measuring and experimentally manipulating baseline levels of the stress hormone corticosterone in laying wild female European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) and examining effects on sex ratio and sex‐specific offspring phenotype adjustment. Here we show that baseline plasma corticosterone is negatively correlated with energetic body condition in laying starlings, and subsequent experimental elevation of maternal baseline plasma corticosterone increased yolk corticosterone without altering maternal condition or egg quality per se. Hormonal elevation resulted in the following: female‐biased hatching sex ratios (caused by elevated male embryonic mortality), lighter male offspring at hatching (which subsequently grew more slowly during postnatal development), and lower cell‐mediated immune (phytohemagglutinin) responses in males compared with control‐born males; female offspring were unaffected by the manipulation in both years of the study. Elevated maternal corticosterone therefore resulted in a sex‐biased adjustment of offspring quality favorable to female offspring via both a sex ratio bias and a modulation of male phenotype at hatching. In birds, deposition of yolk corticosterone may benefit mothers by acting as a bet‐hedging strategy in stochastic environments where the correlation between environmental cues at laying (and therefore potentially maternal condition) and conditions during chick‐rearing might be low and unpredictable. Together with recent studies in other vertebrate taxa, these results suggest that maternal stress hormones provide a mechanistic link between maternal quality and sex‐biased maternal investment in offspring.
Towards optimal local binary patterns in texture and face description

Local binary patterns (LBP) are among the most popular image description methods and have been successfully applied in a diverse set of computer vision problems, covering texture classification, material categorization, face recognition, and image segmentation, to name only a few. The popularity of the LBP methodology can be verified by inspecting the number of existing studies about its different variations and extensions. The number of those studies is vast. Currently, the methodology has been acknowledged as one of the milestones in face recognition research. The starting point of this research is to gain more understanding of which principles the original LBP descriptor is based on. After gaining some degree of insight, yet another try is made to improve some steps of the LBP pipeline, consisted of image pre-processing, pattern sampling, pattern encoding, binning, and further histogram post-processing. The main contribution of this thesis is a bunch of novel LBP extensions that partly try to unify some of the existing derivatives and extensions. The basis for the design of the new additional LBP methodology is to maximise data-driven premises, at the same time minimizing the need for tuning by hand. Prior to local binary pattern extraction, the thesis presents an image upsampling step dubbed as image pre-interpolation. As a natural consequence of upsampling, a greater number of patterns can be extracted and binned to a histogram improving the representational performance of the final descriptor. To improve the following two steps of the LBP pipeline, namely pattern sampling and encoding, three different learning-based methods are introduced. Finally, a unifying model is presented for the last step of the LBP pipeline, namely for local binary pattern histogram postprocessing. As a special case of this, a novel histogram smoothing scheme is proposed, which shares the motivation and the effects with the image pre-interpolation for the most of its part. Deriving descriptors for such face recognition problems as face verification or age estimation has been and continues to be among the most popular domains where LBP has ever been applied. This study is not an exception in that regard as the main investigations and conclusions here are made on the basis of how the proposed LBP variations perform especially in the problems of face recognition. The experimental part of the study demonstrates that the proposed methods, experimentally validated using publicly available texture and face datasets, yield results comparable to the best performing LBP variants found in the literature, reported with the corresponding benchmarks.
Mapping Articulatory-Features to Vocal-Tract Parameters for Voice Conversion

SUMMARY In this paper, we propose voice conversion (VC) based on articulatory features (AF) to vocal-tract parameters (VTP) mapping. An ar-tiﬁcial neural network (ANN) is applied to map AF to VTP and to convert a speaker’s voice to a target-speaker’s voice. The proposed system is not only text-independent VC, in which it does not need parallel utterances between source and target-speakers, but can also be used for an arbitrary source-speaker. This means that our approach does not require source-speaker data to build the VC model. We are also focusing on a small number of target-speaker training data. For comparison, a baseline system based on Gaussian mixture model (GMM) approach is conducted. The experimental results for a small number of training data show that the converted voice of our approach is intelligible and has speaker individuality of the target-speaker.