Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Rain Scene Animation through Particle Systems and Surface Flow Simulation by SPH

Realistic rain scenes animation is a complex task due to both the rendering and fluid dynamics simulation issues. The associated phenomena, like rain strokes rendering, splashing of raindrops and the simulation of the generated surface flow are known difficulties in this area. This paper describes a computational framework to incorporate these elements in a scene containing a digital terrain model (DTM). In the rain model, the raindrops are modeled by a particle system implemented in GPU. Each particle represents a drop and the Precomputed Radiance Transfer (PRT), expressed in a spherical harmonics bases, is used to incorporate environment lightning to the rendering engine. The Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method is employed for simulating the superficial flow over the terrain and lake formations. The rendering of the fluid free surface is performed by applying an environment mapping technique plus Fresnel effects to a regular geometric representation known as ``carpet''. The experimental results show the potential of the proposed pipeline for computer graphics and highlight the fact that it is a promising framework for real time applications.
Implicit manipulation of polynomials using zero-suppressed BDDs

We present a new technique that broadens the scope of BDD application. It involves manipulating arithmetic polynomials containing higher-degree variables and integer coefficients. Our method can represent large-scale polynomials compactly and uniquely, and it greatly accelerates computation of polynomials. As the polynomial calculus is a basic model in mathematics, our method is very useful in various areas, including formal verification techniques for VLSI design. <<ETX>>
PASSAT: A User-centric Planning Framework

We describe a plan-authoring system called PASSAT (PlanAuthoring System based on Sketches, Advice, and Templates) that combines interactive tools for constructing plans with a suite of automated and mixed-initiative capabilities designed to complement human planning skills. PASSAT is organized around a library of predefined templates that encode task networks describing standard operating procedures and previous cases. Users can select from these templates to apply during plan development, with the system providing various forms of automated assistance. A mixed-initiative plan sketch facility helps users refine outlines for plans to complete solutions, by detecting problems and proposing possible fixes. An advice capability enables user specification of high-level guidelines for plans that the system helps to enforce. Finally, PASSAT includes process facilitation mechanisms designed to help a user track and manage outstanding planning tasks and information requirements, as a means of improving the efficiency and effectiveness of the planning process. PASSAT is designed for applications for which a core of planning knowledge can be captured in predefined action models but where significant user control of the planning process is required.
Incidence and risk factors of leukoaraiosis from 4683 hospitalized patients

Abstract Leukoaraiosis (LA) refers to white matter hyperintensities or white matter lesions (WMLs) on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the brain; this disease is associated with an increased risk of stroke, dementia, and cognitive decline. The aims of the study are to assess the incidence of LA and its associated risk factors in a Chinese population. A hospital-based cross-sectional study was conducted that included 4683 patients who were 40 years or older. Data collected included age, sex, hypertension, diabetes, smoking, drinking, homocysteine (HCY), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) levels in the blood in addition to brain MRI information. We examined the relationship of those putative risk factors with LA, LA occurrence, and LA progression through single-factor and multivariate analyses. Of the total subjects, 58.3% (2731/4683 cases) suffered from LA. LA was more frequent amongst elderly females, particularly in those older than 60, compared to men. The incidence of LA increased with age. Age, sex, hypertension, diabetes, smoking, and HCY levels all were risk factors for LA. Amongst those risk factors, both smoking and high HCY levels were associated with the onset process of LA. Moreover, the multivariate logistic analysis revealed that both drinking and abnormal LDL-C levels were positive regulators in the progression process of LA. This study revealed that the incidence of LA is high in hospitalized patients in China; moreover, age, sex, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, smoking, drinking, and abnormal HCY and LDL-C levels were found to be associated with overall LA risk, LA onset, or LA progression. These results provide insight into strategies for the prevention and treatment of LA.
B cells in allergic diseases: Bad or Better?

IgE-producing B cells are always considered as ‘bad’ guys in allergic diseases, as they play a direct role in promoting inflammatory responses against inhaled or ingested allergens and contribute to the development of subsequent clinical symptoms. During the past decade, mouse studies have shown that B cells may also have a ‘better’ side, producing IL-10 and suppressing inflammatory responses; those cells are called regulatory B (Breg) cells. There is evidence now that impairment of Breg cell activity may play a role in the development of inflammatory diseases. New transgenic models and renewed interest have expanded our knowledge on different B cell phenotypes, signals to promote their activity and their function in health and disease. This review will highlight the current knowledge on disease-promoting or disease-protecting activities of B cells and discuss its potential for therapeutic applications in allergies.
CollideFx: A Physics-Based Audio Effects Processor

CollideFx is a real-time audio effects processor that integrates the physics of real objects into the parameter space of the signal chain. Much like a traditional signal chain, the user can choose a series of effects and offer realtime control to their various parameters. In this work, we introduce a means of creating tree-like signal graphs that dynamically change their routing in response to changes in the location of the unit generators in a virtual space. Signals are rerouted using a crossfading scheme that avoids the harsh clicks and pops associated with amplitude discontinuities. The unit generators are easily controllable using a click and drag interface that responds using familiar physics. CollideFx brings the interactivity of a video game together with the purpose of creating interesting and complex audio effects. With little difficulty, users can craft custom effects, or alternatively, can fling a unit generator into a cluster of several others to obtain more surprising results, letting the physics engine do the decision making.
The Trauma Outcome Process Assessment Model: A Structural Equation Model Examination of Adjustment

This investigation sought to operationalize a comprehensive theoretical model, the Trauma Outcome Process Assessment, and test it empirically with structural equation modeling. The Trauma Outcome Process Assessment reflects a robust body of research and incorporates known ecological factors (e.g., family dynamics, social support) to explain internalizing distress (e.g., anxiety, depression), externalizing distress (e.g., aggression), and recovery outcomes following traumatic events. Results revealed that expected relationships among the variables were significantly related in the expected direction, and the measures mapped well onto the expected latent constructs. Following optimal specification of the relationships within the Trauma Outcome Process Assessment, structural equation modeling revealed strong support for the Trauma Outcome Process Assessment as a comprehensive identification and treatment model to explain the differential outcomes of those exposed to traumatic stressors.
CAPS: A Cross-genre Author Profiling System

This paper describes the participation of the Cross-genre Author Profiling System (CAPS) in the PAN16 shared task [15]. The classification system considers parts-of-speech, collocations, connective words and various other stylometric features to differentiate between the writing styles of male and female authors as well as between different age groups. The system achieves the second best score – 74.36% accuracy (with the best performing system (BPS) reaching 75.64%) for gender identification on the official test set (test set 2) for English. Further, for age classification, we report accuracy of 44.87% (BPS: 58.97%). For Spanish, CAPS reaches performance of 62.50% (BPS: 73.21%) for gender and 46.43% (BPS: 51.79) for age, while for Dutch, the accuracy for gender (the task did not target age) is lowest – 55.00% (BPS: 61.80%). For comparison, we also tested CAPS on single genre classification of author gender and age on the PAN14 and PAN15 datasets achieving comparable performance.
Unsupervised Mapping of Motor Unit Action Potential Trains to Hand Kinematics Using Complex Principal Component Analysis

We propose an unsupervised approach to map motor unit action potential (MUAP) trains to hand kinematics. To quantify the spatio temporal information in MUAP trains, we develop a novel complex principal component analysis (CPCA) representation that includes muscle synergies for antagonistic movements in a single dimension, so it makes the direct control of each motor of a bionic hand straightforward by a simple dimensionality reduction. We further explore the importance of a linear transformation (rotation) in the projection space that best aligns the PCA subspace with the canonical projection space of the bionic hand degrees of freedom. We perform some experiments to estimate hand flexion-extension from MUAP trains identified during voluntary movements, with promising preliminary results.
CO2-Aware Adaptation Strategies for Cloud Applications

The increasing utilization of cloud resources raises several issues related to their environmental impact and, more in general, sustainability. Recently, most of the contributions have focused on energy efficiency achieved through a better physical and virtual resource management. The present paper considers instead the application level, extending the focus to the reduction of CO2 emissions related to the execution of applications. We aim to exploit adaptivity through the design of an Application Controller that, enacting the right adaptation strategy for a given context, allows the improvement of the trade off between QoS and CO2 emission reduction. The effectiveness of the approach has been shown running an HPC application in a federated cloud infrastructure.
Signal2Image Modules in Deep Neural Networks for EEG Classification

Deep learning has revolutionized computer vision utilizing the increased availability of big data and the power of parallel computational units such as graphical processing units. The vast majority of deep learning research is conducted using images as training data, however the biomedical domain is rich in physiological signals that are used for diagnosis and prediction problems. It is still an open research question how to best utilize signals to train deep neural networks.In this paper we define the term Signal2Image (S2Is) as trainable or non-trainable prefix modules that convert signals, such as Electroencephalography (EEG), to image-like representations making them suitable for training image-based deep neural networks defined as ‘base models’. We compare the accuracy and time performance of four S2Is (‘signal as image’, spectrogram, one and two layer Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs)) combined with a set of ‘base models’ (LeNet, AlexNet, VGGnet, ResNet, DenseNet) along with the depth-wise and 1D variations of the latter. We also provide empirical evidence that the one layer CNN S2I performs better in eleven out of fifteen tested models than non-trainable S2Is for classifying EEG signals and present visual comparisons of the outputs of some of the S2Is.
Testing it: an off-the-shelf software testing process

Milewski claims that the book is aimed at anyone from a beginner who has had some programming experience but wants to learn C++ to a well-trained programmer who is trying to improve his or her skills to a level appropriate for the commercial world. When the broad intended audience is combined with the ambitious breadth of topics, it becomes very difficult to adequately cover the topics to the level needed by either end of the intended audience spectrum. I found the book rather disappointing because of this very issue. Too many items were covered at an extremely high level, particularly for a book subtitled "Industrial-Strength Programming Techniques. " The reader would have been far better served had Mr. Milewski restricted himself to a subset of the intended topics. As is, the reader is introduced to far too many techniques and terms with little or no explanation of their meaning, which makes it difficult for the true beginner.
Bifurcation Type and Larger Low Shear Area Are Associated with Rupture Status of Very Small Intracranial Aneurysms

Background Characterization of the risk factors for rupture of very small intracranial aneurysm (VSIA, ≤3 mm) is clinically valuable, since VSIAs are implicated in subarachnoid hemorrhage. The aim of this study was to identify morphological and hemodynamic parameters that independently characterize the rupture status of VSIAs. Methods We conducted a retrospective study of consecutive VSIAs between September 2010 and February 2014 in our institute. A series of morphologic and hemodynamic parameters were evaluated using computational fluid dynamics, based on patient-specific three-dimensional geometrical models. Results We identified 186 patients with 206 VSIAs (73 ruptured, 133 unruptured). Univariable logistic regression analysis showed that bifurcation type, parent artery diameter, size ratio, time-averaged wall shear stress (WSS), maximum WSS, minimum WSS, and low shear area (LSA) were related to rupture status. Bifurcation type and larger LSA were independently associated with rupture status in multivariable logistic regression (p = 0.002 and p = 0.003, respectively). Conclusion Bifurcation type and larger LSA were independently associated with VSIA rupture status. Further studies are needed prospectively on patient-derived geometries prior to rupturing based on large multi-population data to confirm the present findings.
The Enterins: A Novel Family of Neuropeptides Isolated from the Enteric Nervous System and CNS of Aplysia

To identify neuropeptides that have a broad spectrum of actions on the feeding system of Aplysia, we searched for bioactive peptides that are present in both the gut and the CNS. We identified a family of structurally related nonapeptides and decapeptides (enterins) that are present in the gut and CNS of Aplysia, and most of which share the HSFVamide sequence at the C terminus. The structure of the enterin precursor deduced from cDNA cloning predicts 35 copies of 20 different enterins. Northern analysis, in situhybridization, and immunocytochemistry show that the enterins are abundantly present in the CNS and the gut of Aplysia. Using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry we characterized the enterin-precursor processing, demonstrated that all of the precursor-predicted enterins are present, and determined post-translational modifications of various enterins. Enterin-positive neuronal somata and processes were found in the gut, and enterins inhibited contractions of the gut. In the CNS, the cerebral and buccal ganglia, which control feeding, contained the enterins. Enterin was also present in the nerve that connects these two ganglia. Enterins reduced the firing of interneurons B4/5 during feeding motor programs. Such enterin-induced reduction of firing also occurred when excitability of B4/5 was tested directly. Because reduction of B4/5 activity corresponds to a switch from egestive to ingestive behaviors, enterin may contribute to such program switching. Furthermore, because enterins are present throughout the nervous system, they may also play a regulatory role in nonfeeding behaviors ofAplysia.
Analyse et modélisation du fonctionnement biophysique et décisionnel d'un système prairial irrigué : application aux prairies plurispécifiques de Crau en vue de l'élaboration d'un outil d'aide à la décision

Ce travail propose d'analyser et de modeliser le fonctionnement biophysique et decisionnel d'un systeme prairial irrigue par gravite. Il est applique aux prairies plurispecifiques de Crau. Le systeme etudie est decoupe en deux sous-systemes : le sous-systeme biophysique sol-plante-lame d'eau et le sous-systeme technique, decrit par les processus decisionnels des agriculteurs. L'approche systemique, nous a conduits a decomposer le systeme biophysique en compartiments interagissant entre eux et passant par une succession d'etats. Cette approche structure les experimentations et la modelisation numerique. Nous montrons que la prairie plurispecifique est sensible en quantite et en qualite aux deficits hydrique courts et moderes et que l'irrigation peut etre pilotee a partir du potentiel matriciel et de la fraction d'eau du sol transpirable par la culture. Les donnees experimentales permettent d'ameliorer et calibrer un modele de lame d'eau base sur une loi d'infiltration predictive et un modele de culture base sur une approche des traits fonctionnels. La qualite de prediction, obtenue par validation croisee, est satisfaisante par rapport a l'utilisation souhaitee du modele, les effets du vent et de la plurispecificite sur le rendement ayant ete integres. Un modele conceptuel des decisions est construit a partir d'une enquete sur le fonctionnement du systeme de production en adaptant le concept de ‘modele d'action' aux systemes gravitaires et aux prairies. Le couplage de ces modeles completera ce travail afin d'elaborer un outil d'aide a la conception de systemes de culture plus efficients en termes d'usage de l'eau.
Determinants to the Use of Business Process Modeling

This article addresses a theoretical gap in the BPM literature on factors that influence the acceptance of process modeling (PM) in organizations. Literature review on PM and 34 qualitative interviews were combined into a PM acceptance model and empirically tested with data from 74 companies showing that PM is to a large extent a mandated activity, explaining the missing link between PM attitudes on PM intention. The study extends the TAM and the TPB to the context of process modeling and demonstrates that less studied socio-political factors in addition to awareness of PM are important to understand PM acceptance. The findings show that social influence from different stakeholder reference groups should be analyzed separately to reveal their influence on PM acceptance. The results have theoretical implications for the study of technology acceptance in general and for PM acceptance in particular and practical implications for the management of PM.
PHYSIOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF HUMAN RED BLOOD CELL GHOSTS

The properties of ghosts prepared by hypotonic hemolysis at various ratios of cells (C) to hemolyzing solution (H) have been studied. At all ratios, hemoglobin (Hb) was found to be distributed equally between the ghost and supernatant compartments. Techniques employing Fe59—labelled Hb showed that during hemolysis all of the Hb is exchangeable and that following hemolysis the ghost is impermeable to Hb. Ghosts containing defined fractions of their original Hb were prepared by appropriately altering the ratio C/H. When washed and suspended in 0.17 M NaCl—PO4—buffered media, the ghosts returned to their initial volume, recovered normal shape, and behaved as osmometers. The rate of rehemolysis of these reconstituted ghosts was observed to be proportional to the concentration of Hb in the ghosts. The rate of rehemolysis was accelerated by the addition of n-butyl alcohol (BA). For a given concentration of BA, temperature, and Hb content the rate of rehemolysis was minimal around the isoelectric point of Hb. Rehemolysis by BA was inhibited by the addition of sucrose to the medium. K influx and outflux were measured and found to be increased by the addition of BA and not influenced by the presence of sucrose. These results on the rehemolytic characteristics of ghosts are consistent with and support the colloid-osmotic theory of hemolysis.
Diagnosis of induction machines under varying speed operation by Principal Slot Harmonic tracking

A detailed study of a Principal Slot Harmonic (PSH) energy of an induction motor directly connected to the grid and operating under variable load under different faulty conditions is carried out. Broken rotor bars, mixed eccentricity and interturn short circuit faults are considered in the paper. A combined time-frequency distribution and particle filtering post processing approach is used in the work for PSH tracking even for the case of severe pulsating load operation. The proposed fault indicator provides values that are comparable with the traditional one for stationary operation. The results show that the energy in the PSH reflects the overall state of the machine under this kind of operation. Furthermore, its changing pattern is studied as a mean to discriminate between different faults.
Liver tryptase-positive mast cells and fibrosis in children with hepatic echinococcosis

The hepatic echinococcosis in children is a serious surgical problem. The aim of this study is to investigate the participation of mast cells in liver inflammatory reactions triggered by echinococcal cysts. Liver biopsy samples were collected from the tissue surrounding the cysts from 16 sick children (11 boys and 5 girls) in the course of abdominal surgery and from 5 controls. Light and ultrastructural immunocytochemistry was performed using monoclonal antibody against tryptase. Light microscopical immunocytochemistry revealed abundance of tryptase-positive (MCT) mast cells in the capsules of the cysts (43.58 cells/mm2). There were also observed greatly increased numbers of mast cells in portal tracts surrounding the cyst, compared to those of control biopsies (26.49 vs. 1.78 cells/mm2, p=0.0009, Mann-Whitney U test). Based on the ultrastructural appearance of tryptase-positive mast cell granules, morphological sings of activation of most of the mast cells were distinguished. In conclusion, we suggest that the accumulated and activated tryptase-positive mast cells in liver tissues surrounding the echinococcal cysts play a crucial role in modulation of the inflammatory liver response and could induce chronic inflammation and fibrogenesis, resulting in serious liver injury such as nonspecific reactive hepatitis.
Visual Attention-Driven Spatial Pooling for Image Memorability

In daily life, humans demonstrate astounding ability to remember images they see on magazines, commercials, TV, the web and so on, but automatic prediction of intrinsic memorability of images using computer vision and machine learning techniques was not investigated until a few years ago. However, despite these recent advances, none of the available approaches makes use of any attentional mechanism, a fundamental aspect of human vision, which selects relevant image regions for higher-level processing. Our goal in this paper is to explore the role of visual attention in understanding memorability of images. In particular, we present an attention-driven spatial pooling strategy for image memorability and show that the regions estimated by bottom-up and object-level saliency maps are more effective in predicting memorability than considering a fixed spatial pyramid structure as in the previous studies.