Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Interactive Display of Background Objects for Virtual Endoscopy using Flexible First-Hit Ray Casting

Many applications of virtual endoscopy require the display of background objects behind the semi-transparent surface of the investigated organ. This paper describes a new first-hit ray casting technique for efficient perspective iso-surfacing of arbitrarily selected objects of interest. Visualization is performed without the use of dedicated hardware or data structures limiting flexibility (e.g., polygonal meshes or distance fields). The speedup is gained by exploiting inter-pixel coherency and finding a near-optimal compromise between reduction of ray-tracking distances and limitation of the administrational cost associated with this reduction, e.g., traversal of special data structures. The algorithm was developed by enhancing the previously published cell-based first-hit ray casting algorithm. This paper describes the original algorithm and explains the extensions needed to achieve interactive rendering of background objects. Also, pre-processing of background objects defined by binary segmentation
Cost Simulation Of An Inflation-Linked And A Floater Bond With Backtesting

In this paper we focus on simulating and backtesting the costs of two special government securities, from the point of view of the issuer. Our research has two main goals. The first one is to assess the costliness of an inflation-linked bond in comparison with a floater one. The second one is to backtest the simulation results on real market data. We carry out the cost simulations with Monte Carlo simulation. The basis of the calculations is the Cox-Ingersoll-Ross interest rate model for the floater bond; and a first order autoregressive model for the inflation-linked bond. Our findings are: (i) the inflation-linked bond appears to be more expensive than the floater one and this relationship holds true for exante (simulated) and ex-post (actually realised) costs as well; and (ii) the simulations predict the total present value of the costs adequately for both instruments, but the individual cash flows of the floater bond are significantly underor overestimated in the different years. This shortcoming is in line with our expectations, since the model is calibrated on a tranquil period but applied on a very volatile one.
Cultural Connections in the Classroom and Pacific Islander Students Value of Reading

Cultural Connections in the Classroom and Pacific Islander Students’ Value of Reading Lyndsai K. Sylva Department of Teacher Education, BYU Master of Arts This thesis focuses on how cultural connections in classroom influences students’ value of learning, specifically, their value of reading. Several researchers and theorists have emphasized the importance of balancing cognitive and conative aspects of children’s reading development. However, what is lacking in these studies is a focus on Pacific Islander (PI) children. The purpose of this study was to examine value of reading for diverse students who may be struggling in classrooms designed for White, middle-class students. Findings provide educators and those working with diverse students a chance to consider how connecting cultural backgrounds for all students can help in classrooms. This study was framed from a larger study on equity in teaching academic language conducted by the supervising professor, Dr. Bryant Jensen. This research study used a mixed method approach: multiple regression analysis to predict gains in PI students’ reading values, and interviews with classroom teachers. Fourth through sixth grade Latino and PI students in 32 classrooms participating in the quantitative study, and three teachers were interviewed. Due to the short time frame, PI students’ value of reading did not increase on average. Themes also emerged during interviews with the classroom teachers. I conclude with a discussion, implications, and recommendations for future research studies and educators working with PI and other diverse students.
Reported Hours of Sleep, Diabetes Prevalence and Glucose Control in Jamaican Adults: Analysis from the Jamaica Lifestyle Survey 2007-2008

Background. There are limited data on sleep duration and diabetes from developing countries. We therefore examined the relationship between reported hours of sleep, diabetes prevalence and glucose control in Jamaican adults. Methods. Data on reported hours of sleep and diabetes (based on glucose measurement and medication use) from a national survey of 15–74-year-old Jamaicans were analyzed. Results. The 2,432 participants (31% M, Age 42 ± 16 years, BMI 27.6 ± 6.6 kg/m2, diabetes prevalence 12%) reported sleeping 8.2 ± 1.8 hours. In men, sleeping less than 6 hours (OR (95% CI) = 2.65 (1.09–6.48)) or more than 10 hours (OR (95% CI) = 4.36 (1.56–12.19)) was associated with diabetes when adjusted for age, BMI, and family history of diabetes. In women sleeping less than 6 hours was associated with a reduced likelihood of diabetes after adjusting for the same confounders ((OR (95% CI) = 0.43 (0.23–0.78)). There was no significant association between sleep and glucose control. Conclusion. Insufficient and excessive sleep was associated with increased diabetes prevalence in Jamaican men but not women.
Implementing quality metrics and goals at the corporate level

Over the past eight years, Cisco Systems, Inc., has implemented software quality goals for most groups engaged in software development, including development for both customer and internal use. This corporate implementation has proven to be a long and difficult process for many reasons, including opposition from many groups, uncertainties as to how to proceed with key aspects of the goaling, and the many unanticipated modifications needed to adapt the program to a large and diverse development and test environment. This paper describes what has worked, what has not work so well, and what levels of improvement the Engineering organization has experienced in part as a result of these efforts. Key customer experience metrics have improved 30% to 70% over the past six years, partly as a result of metrics and process standardization, dashboarding, and goaling. As one would expect with such a large endeavor, some of the results shown are not statistically provable, but are nevertheless generally accepted within the corporation as valid. Other important results do have strong statistical substantiation, and we will also describe these. But whether or not the results are statistically provable, Cisco has in fact improved its software quality substantially over the past eight years, and the corporate goaling mechanism is generally recognized as a necessary (but of course not sufficient) part of this improvement effort.
Mobile Cluster Computing and Timeliness Issues

With the rapid advancement and extensive deployment of cluster computing and mobile communication, the integration of these two technologies has become feasible and lead to the emergence of a new paradigm called mobile cluster computing (MCC). Among the issues that need to be addressed before MCC can become a reality, the timeliness issue is an important one, especially when mobile nodes within a computing cluster migrate from one cell to another cell in a cellular wireless network. In this paper, we rst deene and analyze the potential application environment of mobile cluster computing. We also present a generic architecture of a mobile cluster computer and several potential research issues of mobile cluster computing. In the rest of this paper, we focus on the timeliness issue of routing and multicast when handover occurs, along with several solution approaches based on diierent system architectures.
Determination of HCV Genotypes, in Iran by PCR-RFLP

Hepatitis C is a major cause of liver related morbidity and mortality worldwide and represents a major public health problem. Depending on genomic organization, the virus is divided into six genotypes and a number of subtypes. Different genotypes are seen in different parts of the world. Genotype one is difficult to treat, while genotypes 2 and 3 are easy to treat. Therefore, identification of HCV genotype in patients is necessary to begin and follow up the treatment. In this study, viral genomic materials of 214 patients’ sera were detected by nested-RT PCR. Based on genomic differences among different genotypes, the PCR products were digested with proper enzymes and studied by RFLP. Except for one, sequencing of 14 samples, representative of all genotypes, confirmed the results of PCR-RFLP. The results of PCR-RFLP were as follows: 1a (52.88%), 1b (14.01%), 3a (27.57%), 2a (2.1%), 4 (3.44%). This indicates that a high percentage of HCV infected patients in Iran are infected with 1a or 3a genotypes. These findings reveal that the pattern of HCV genotypes in Iran differs from those of other middle-eastern countries.
A Survey on Threats and Vulnerabilities in Smart Metering Infrastructures

The smart grid initiative aims at transforming today’s public power grid into a flexible and intelligent energy utility. The basis for this advancement is the detailed monitoring of the grid status and energy consumption behavior of connected stakeholders in order to implement powerful control mechanisms, flexible billing processes, and unmatched value-added services. However, these advantages do not come without costs. System components grow in complexity and increasing integration of power grid control systems with information and communication technology (ICT) leads to novel security and privacy challenges. Therefore, this paper deals with a structured analysis of vulnerabilities and threats that have the potential to hinder the functioning and wide adoption of automatic metering in smart grids. This analysis provides valuable input for further specification and development of critical system components and security and privacy protection mechanisms.
Integrating the Science of Psychology in Building a Better Leadership Model

MG Gordon B. Davis, Jr. Deputy Commanding General CSM Joe B. Parson Jr. LD&E Command Sergeant Major Clinton J. Ancker, III, Director, Combined Arms Doctrine Directorate Robert Baumann, Director, CGSC Graduate Program COL Thomas C. Graves, Director, School of Advanced Military Studies Gregory Fontenot, Director, University of Foreign Military and Cultural Studies Lester W. Grau Foreign Military Studies Office John Pennington, Chief, Media Division, Center for Army Lessons Learned Thomas Jordan, Director, Capability Development Integration Directorate COL Roderick M. Cox Director, Combat Studies Institute Dennis Tighe, Deputy Director, Combined Arms Center-Training
Social emotional learning in the classroom: Study protocol for a randomized controlled trial of PERSPEKT 2.0

Social emotional learning programs have been found to lead to immediate improvements in cognitive, social and emotional competences. Meanwhile, most evidence to date refers to the United States, and most other countries lack locally tailored teaching materials for socio-emotional learning. Further, there is a lack of knowledge about which subgroups benefit more. Such knowledge is important, because it could provide evidence relevant for both explaining and addressing inequality in educational achieving across subgroups of pupils. Knowledge about longer-term impacts on academic achievement is also called for. This protocol describes an experimental evaluation of a recently developed social emotional learning program implemented in Denmark. The evaluation combines survey data with register-based data, where the latter source allows for tracking of participant outcomes with minimal risk of attrition.
Astrophysical relevance of γ transition energies

The relevant gamma energy range is explicitly identified where additional gamma strength must be located to have an impact on astrophysically relevant reactions. It is shown that folding the energy dependences of the transmission coefficients and the level density leads to maximal contributions for γ energies of 2⩽Eγ⩽4 unless quantum selection rules allow isolated states to contribute. Under this condition, electric dipole transitions dominate. These findings allow us to more accurately judge the relevance of modifications of the γ strength for astrophysics.
Can Sitaglipten Attenuate Hypertension, Myocardial Changes and Vascular Reactivity Induced by Long Term Blockade of Nitric Oxide Synthesis in the Rat?

Background: Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) is an incretin hormone with insulinotropic properties that regulates glucose metabolism. GLP-1 receptors are the most extensively key modulators of lipid and glucose homeostasis. They are predominantly expressed in adipose tissues, some non adipose tissues including heart, kidney, spleen, and all relevant cells of the vasculature: endothelial cells, smooth muscle cells, and macrophages. The vascular distribution suggests their involvement in the control of cardiovascular function. Objective: The present experiment was designed to study the effect of sitaglipten alone or in combination with captopril on blood pressure, antioxidant enzymes, vascular reactivity and cardiac hypertrophy in NG-nitro-L-arginine methylester (L-NAME) induced hypertension in rats. Methods: One hundred male albino rats weighing from 150 - 200 g were included in this study. Rats were divided into two main groups. Group I, (20 rats) served as a control group for group II, and received 1 ml of physiological saline (0.9%), orally for seven weeks. Group II: hypertensive group, (80 rats) was given daily L-NAME in a dose of 40 mg/kg orally for seven weeks. Rats were further subdivided into A, B, C, and D, each of 20 rats. Group-A, received 1 ml of distilled water daily orally for six weeks, starting one week after L-NAME administration. Groups B, C and D were treated with daily sitaglipten (10 mg/kg b.wt. orally) and captopril (100 mg/kg b.wt. orally), alone or together for six weeks. Blood pressure, serum tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), body weight (BW) and heart weight (HW) were measured. Malondialdehyde (MDA) and reduced glutathione (GSH) were estimated in cardiac tissues. Thoracic aorta was isolated and the aortic rings were allowed to achieve maximal tension by cumulative addition of phenylephrine (PE) (10-9-10-5 M) to the bath solution. Results: Sitaglipten and captopril, alone or together produced significant decreases in blood pressure and TNF-α. Higher oxidative stress accompanying hypertension was significantly reduced by sitaglipten and captopril treatment. The results showed that both drugs significantly attenuated the augmented contractile response to PE in hypertensive rats. In addition, they inhibited the cardiac hypertrophy (reduction in HW/BW ratio). Conclusion: These data suggest that DPP4 inhibitor (sitaglipten) “is away from being insulinotropic and regulates glucose metabolism”, contributes to normal regulation of blood pressure and exerts protective effects in hypertension via many mechanisms, as inhibition of generation of free radicals.
Towards Cognitive Medical Robotics in Minimal Invasive Surgery

Up to date, medical robots for minimal invasive surgery do not provide assistance appropriate to the workflow of the intervention. A simple concept of a cognitive system is presented, which is derived from a classic closed-loop control. As implementation, we present a cognitive medical robot system using lightweight robots with redundant kinematics. The robot system includes several control modes and human-machine interfaces. We focus on describing knowledge acquisition about the workflow of an intervention and present two example applications utilizing the acquired knowledge: autonomous camera guidance and planning of minimal invasive port (trocar) positions in combination with an initial robot setup. Port planning is described as optimization problem. The autonomous camera system includes a mid-term movement prediction of the ongoing intervention. The cognitive approach to a medical robot system includes taking the environment into account. The goal is to create a system that acts as a human assistant, who perceives the situation, understands the context based on his knowledge and acts appropriate.
First trimester serum angiogenic/anti-angiogenic status in twin pregnancies: relationship with assisted reproduction technology.

BACKGROUND The risk of pre-eclampsia (PE) increases in twin pregnancies, especially when assisted reproduction technologies (ART) are used. The aim of this study was to assess angiogenic/anti-angiogenic factors in maternal serum in the first trimester of twin pregnancies and establish if the mode of conception influences angiogenic status. METHODS This prospective study enrolled women with twin (n = 61) and singleton (n = 50) pregnancies. Dichorionic twin pregnancies were divided into two groups according to their mode of conception. Singleton pregnancies were used as the control group. Soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase (sFlt-1), free placental growth factor (PlGF) and soluble endoglin (sEng) concentrations were measured in the first trimester maternal serum. RESULTS In the first trimester, women with twin pregnancies had higher serum concentrations of the anti-angiogenic factor sFlt-1 than that with singleton pregnancies (3924 ± 250 versus 2426 ± 162 pg/ml, respectively; P < 0.001). Maternal serum PlGF concentrations were lower in singleton pregnancies than those in twin pregnancies (37 ± 3.7 versus 59 ± 5.6, respectively; P < 0.001). Serum concentrations of sFlt-1 were higher in twin pregnancies conceived by ART than those in spontaneous twin pregnancies (4313 ± 389 versus 3522 ± 300 pg/ml, respectively; P < 0.05). No differences between groups were observed for sEng. CONCLUSIONS In the first trimester, twin pregnancies conceived using ART showed a heightened anti-angiogenic status that could explain the increased risk of PE in these cases.
Tissue-Specific Expressed Antibody Variable Gene Repertoires

Recent developments in genetic technologies allow deep analysis of the sequence diversity of immune repertoires, but little work has been reported on the architecture of immune repertoires in mucosal tissues. Antibodies are the key to prevention of infections at the mucosal surface, but it is currently unclear whether the B cell repertoire at mucosal surfaces reflects the dominant antibodies found in the systemic compartment or whether mucosal tissues harbor unique repertoires. We examined the expressed antibody variable gene repertoires from 10 different human tissues using RNA samples derived from a large number of individuals. The results revealed that mucosal tissues such as stomach, intestine and lung possess unique antibody gene repertoires that differed substantially from those found in lymphoid tissues or peripheral blood. Mutation frequency analysis of mucosal tissue repertoires revealed that they were highly mutated, with little evidence for the presence of naïve B cells, in contrast to blood. Mucosal tissue repertoires possessed longer heavy chain complementarity determining region 3 loops than lymphoid tissue repertoires. We also noted a large increase in frequency of both insertions and deletions in the small intestine antibody repertoire. These data suggest that mucosal immune repertoires are distinct in many ways from the systemic compartment.
QoS-Aware Selection of Web APIs Based on ε-Pareto Genetic Algorithm

Web API is the lightweight version to the SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) service and usually applies REST (Representational State Transfer) as the architectural style. Nowadays, the service-oriented computing paradigm is shifting from the SOAP services to the Web APIs, i.e., RESTful services. Rather than hard coding from scratch, the methodology of service-oriented computing emphasizes identifying the granularity services and composing services into executable applications. Quality of Service (QoS) is always an important concern in the selection of services. The QoS driven service selection problem for service composition has been proven as NP-Complete since there are nm combinations for a given composite service involving m tasks with n candidate services for each task. To address this issue, this study proposes a methodology based on Genetic Algorithms for the selection of Web APIs. The proposed approach in this research provide several features: 1) ε-Pareto dominance relations are introduced to help the discrimination of composite QoS, 2) the ε value for each dimension is determined by the AHP-based method (AHP: Analytic Hierarchy Process), and 3) the Genetic Algorithm is employed to find out the optimal combinations of Web APIs. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach can effectively locate the combination of Web APIs based on the user-preferred QoS indicators without sacrificing other kinds of service quality.
Static Verification of Wireless Sensor Networks with Formal Methods

Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are widely recognized as a solution to build monitoring systems, even in critical environments. WSNs, however, are subjected to faults due to several causes (i.e. rain, EMF radiations, vibrations, etc.) and tools and methodologies for the design of dependable WSN-based systems are needed. Formal methods partially meet such needs by assessing the degree of correctness of design models and identifying potential system bottlenecks. The aim of this paper is to define a methodology for the static verification of WSN based systems using a formal language (Event Calculus). In particular we show how the formal specification can be used to verify the design of a WSN in terms of its dependability properties. To this aim, we define a set of correctness specifications that apply to a generic WSN, coupled with specific structural specifications describing the target network topology to evaluate. Finally, after having presented an automatic tool, designed to support the designer, we adopt this methodology to a case study.
The effects of melatonin and caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) on fracture healing under ischemic conditions.

OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of antioxidant molecules melatonin and caffeic acid phenethyl ester (CAPE) on fracture healing under ischemic conditions. METHODS A right tibia fracture was created and fixed with an intramedullary pin in forty four male Wistar-albino rats. The rats were then randomly allocated to fracture, fracture-ischemia, fracture- ischemia-melatonin, and fracture-ischemia-CAPE groups. Ischemia was created by clamping femoral arteries four and a half hours. Animals were killed and radiographic, histological and biomechanical evaluation was performed sixth week after surgery. RESULTS The radiological and histological scores of the fracture-ischemia-CAPE group were significantly better than the fracture- ischemia group at 6th week follow-up. Complete radiographical and histological healing of all fractures was detected in all groups. There was a significant difference between the maximum fracture force between the groups (fracture-ischemia<fracture-ischemia-melatonin<fracture<fracture-ischemia-CAPE) (p<0.005). Although difference was not statistically significant between fracture and fracture-ischemia-CAPE groups, all other groups revealed statistically significant difference with respect to toughness (N/mm). Fracture-ischemia group revealed the lowest toughness. CONCLUSION Ischemia adversely affects the fracture healing of rat tibias. Melatonin and CAPE eradicate adverse effects of ischemia. Possible adverse effects of ischemia on fracture healing can be eradicated with melatonin and CAPE in patients with tibia fractures associated with vascular injury or compartment syndrome.