Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
WYSIWYG Stereo Paintingwith Usability Enhancements

Despite increasing popularity of stereo capture and display systems, creating stereo artwork remains a challenge. This paper presents a stereo painting system, which enables effective from-scratch creation of high-quality stereo artwork. A key concept of our system is a stereo layer, which is composed of two RGBAd (RGBA + depth) buffers. Stereo layers alleviate the need for fully formed representational 3D geometry required by most existing 3D painting systems, and allow for simple, essential depth specification. RGBAd buffers also provide scalability for complex scenes by minimizing the dependency of stereo painting updates on the scene complexity. For interaction with stereo layers, we present stereo paint and stereo depth brushes, which manipulate the photometric (RGBA) and depth buffers of a stereo layer, respectively. In our system, painting and depth manipulation operations can be performed in arbitrary order with real-time visual feedback, providing a flexible WYSIWYG workflow for stereo painting. Our data structures allow for easy interoperability with existing image and geometry data, enabling a number of applications beyond from-scratch art creation, such as stereo conversion of monoscopic artwork and mixed-media art. Comments from artists and experimental results demonstrate that our system effectively aides in the creation of compelling stereo paintings.
Design of Omnidirectional Dual-Polarized Antenna in Slender and Low-Profile Column

In this communication, a dual-polarized diversity antenna with azimuthally omnidirectional patterns is designed inside a slender and low-profile columnar structure. The proposed antenna is composed of a cavity-backed notch for horizontal polarization and a folded slot for vertical polarization. The most important contribution of this communication is to reduce the antenna dimension, maintain high port isolation, broaden impedance bandwidth, and generate azimuthally omnidirectional radiation patterns. The overall volume of the proposed antenna is 42×12×12 mm<sup>3</sup> (0.336λ<sub>0</sub>×0.096λ<sub>0</sub>×0.096λ<sub>0</sub>). A prototype of the proposed antenna is built and measured for 2.4-GHz wireless local area network (WLAN) applications to validate the idea.
High-resolution imaging with adaptive optics in patients with inherited retinal degeneration.

PURPOSE To investigate macular photoreceptor structure in patients with inherited retinal degeneration using high-resolution images and to correlate the findings with clinical phenotypes and genetic mutations. METHODS Adaptive optics scanning laser ophthalmoscopy (AOSLO) images of photoreceptors were obtained in 16 eyes: five with retinitis pigmentosa (RP), three with cone-rod dystrophy (CRD), and eight without retinal disease. A quadratic model was used to illustrate cone spacing as a function of retinal eccentricity. Cone spacing at 1 degrees eccentricity was compared with standard measures of central visual function, including best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), foveal threshold, and multifocal electroretinogram (mfERG) amplitude and timing. Intervisit variations were studied in one patient with RP and one patient with CRD. Screening of candidate disease genes identified mutations in two patients, one with RP (a rhodopsin mutation) and the other with CRD (a novel RPGR-ORF15 mutation). RESULTS Cone spacing values were significantly different from normal for patients with RP (P = 0.01) and CRD (P < 0.0001) and demonstrated a statistically significant correlation with foveal threshold (P = 0.0003), BCVA (P = 0.01), and mfERG amplitude (P = 0.008). Although many RP patients showed normal cone spacing within 1 degrees of fixation, cones could not be unambiguously identified in several retinal regions. Cone spacing increased in all CRD patients, even those with early disease. Little variation was observed in cone spacing measured during two sessions fewer than 8 days apart. CONCLUSIONS AOSLO images can be used to study macular cones with high resolution in patients with retinal degeneration. The authors present the first report of cone structure in vivo in patients with mutations in rhodopsin and RPGR-ORF15 and show that macular cones display distinct characteristics, depending on the underlying disease. AOSLO imaging, therefore, can provide new insight into possible mechanisms of cone vision loss in patients with retinal degeneration.
Microbial translocation and liver disease progression in women coinfected with HIV and hepatitis C virus.

BACKGROUND Microbial translocation has been implicated in the pathogenesis of liver fibrosis and cirrhosis. We sought to determine whether markers of microbial translocation are associated with liver disease progression during coinfection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV). METHODS We measured serial plasma lipopolysaccharide (LPS), endotoxin core antibody, intestinal fatty acid-binding protein (I-FABP), soluble CD14 (sCD14), interleukin 6 (IL-6), interleukin 10, and tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α) levels over a 5-year period in 44 HIV/HCV-coinfected women, 21 of whom experienced liver disease progression and 23 were nonprogressors. RESULTS While LPS levels did not differ significantly over time between progressors and nonprogressors (P = .60), progressors had significantly higher plasma levels of sCD14, a marker of monocyte activation by LPS, at the first time point measured (P = .03) and throughout the study period (P = .001); progressors also had higher IL-6 and I-FABP levels over the 5-year study period (P = .02 and .03, respectively). The associations between progression and sCD14, I-FABP, and IL-6 levels were unchanged in models controlling for HIV RNA and CD4(+) T-cell count. CONCLUSIONS Although LPS levels did not differ between liver disease progressors and nonprogressors, the association of sCD14, I-FABP, and IL-6 levels with liver disease progression suggests that impairment of gut epithelial integrity and consequent microbial translocation may play a role in the complex interaction of HIV and HCV pathogenesis.
An intelligent system for sentence retrieval and novelty mining

This paper describes the development of an intelligent system for sentence retrieval and novelty mining. Knowledge and software engineering techniques are used for the development, implementation and evaluation strategies for relevant sentence retrieval and novelty mining using blended metrics. Moreover, we describe our novelty mining system with result aggregation, which can greatly facilitate users to find novel information. The experimental results on TREC 2003 and TREC 2004 novelty track data demonstrate the usefulness of our intelligent novelty mining system in a variety of performance situations and user settings. By considering the special issues based on domain knowledge, our intelligent novelty mining system can help to discover novelty that can support business people who are making domain-pertinent actionable decisions.
Has the Experience of Hepatitis C Diagnosis Improved Over the Last Decade? An Analysis of Canadian Women’s Experiences

Background In Canada, incidents of new hepatitis C virus infections are rising among women aged 15–29 years and now comprise 60% of new infections among this age group. A negative diagnosis experience continues to be a problem affecting women living with hepatitis C virus. With new effective treatments, nurses will have more involvement in hepatitis C virus care and diagnosis, which is a critical time to facilitate appropriate education and management. Purpose This study explored Canadian women’s experience of hepatitis C virus diagnosis in order to develop recommendations to improve care at the point of diagnosis. Methods Purposive sampling was used to recruit and interview 25 women. Using narrative inquiry, we examined Canadian women’s experience of hepatitis C virus diagnosis. Results Women’s diagnosis experiences were shaped by the context of diagnosis, factors prompting the testing, the testing provider, and information/education received. The context of diagnosis foreshadowed how prepared women were for their results, and the absence of accurate information magnified the psychological distress that can follow an hepatitis C virus diagnosis. Conclusion Our findings provide a compelling case for a proactive nursing response, which will improve women’s experiences of hepatitis C virus diagnosis and, in turn, enhance women’s access to hepatitis C virus care and other healthcare services.
A novel antagonist of prostaglandin D2 blocks the locomotion of eosinophils and basophils

Background Chemoattractant receptor homologous molecule of Th2 cells (CRTH2) has been shown to mediate the chemotaxis of eosinophils, basophils and Th2‐type T lymphocytes. The major mast cell product prostaglandin (PG) D2 is considered to be the principal ligand of CRTH2.
Research on New Thermal Hole Flanging Process of Connection Tube Forming in Heavy Nuclear Power Thick-Wall Head

The hot hole flanging process of a connection tube in a thick-wall head was researched by finite element analysis and experiment in this paper. The deforming mechanism, main influencing factor and defects in hole flanging were analyzed. According to the stress state and the flow mode of deforming metal, the hole flanging process can be divided into two stages, that is, blending and hole flanging. Processing parameters, such as diameter of pre-holes, space ratio of die cavity, punch shape and size and their effect on forming were researched. The 1:3 scaled experiment was done in 30MN hydraulic press using A508-Ⅲ steel. The formed connection tube had a good quality and its end face was smooth without any crack. The measuring result showed that the error between simulation data and test data was less than 5%, which verified the feasibility of hot hole flanging process and provided an important reference for virtual production. Keywords: Connection Tube Thermal Hole Flanging Thick-wall Head Pro-hole Diameter Space Ratio Scaled Experiment
Role of gastrocnemius activation in knee joint biomechanics: gastrocnemius acts as an ACL antagonist

Gastrocnemius is a premier muscle crossing the knee, but its role in knee biomechanics and on the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) remains less clear when compared to hamstrings and quadriceps. The effect of changes in gastrocnemius force at late stance when it peaks on the knee joint response and ACL force was initially investigated using a lower extremity musculoskeletal model driven by gait kinematics—kinetics. The tibiofemoral joint under isolated isometric contraction of gastrocnemius was subsequently analyzed at different force levels and flexion angles (0°–90°). Changes in gastrocnemius force at late stance markedly influenced hamstrings forces. Gastrocnemius acted as ACL antagonist by substantially increasing its force. Simulations under isolated contraction of gastrocnemius confirmed this role at all flexion angles, in particular, at extreme knee flexion angles (0° and 90°). Constraint on varus/valgus rotations substantially decreased this effect. Although hamstrings and gastrocnemius are both knee joint flexors, they play opposite roles in respectively protecting or loading ACL. Although the quadriceps is also recognized as antagonist of ACL, at larger joint flexion and in contrast to quadriceps, activity in gastrocnemius substantially increased ACL forces (anteromedial bundle). The fact that gastrocnemius is an antagonist of ACL should help in effective prevention and management of ACL injuries.
A new method for data-driven multi-brain atlas generation

We introduce a method for the automatic generation of magnetic resonance imaging brain atlases from a set of brains without any prior on their structure and number. This is a bottom-up, data-driven approach whose goal is to generate brain atlases that mirror as closely as possible the properties of arbitrary brains. This is important, for example, in the segmentation of brain structures of highly deformed brains as that of advanced Alzheimer's disease patients. The method is as follows. First, we register all brain pairs and obtain similarity weights. Second, we construct a graph whose nodes represent volumes and the links the similarity weights. Third, we use Dijkstra's method to select atlas candidates. Fourth, we iteratively merge clusters of atlas candidates until a good subset of them remains. We applied our method to a set of 61 ADNI brain volumes and found that a good selection could be made.
Woes of an RCT for Game-Based Learning Research - Past Problems and Potential Solutions

Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are the gold standard for scientific research but pose many obstacles for game-based learning (GBL) studies. This poster is intended to foster a discussion about RCTs by summarizing two recent trials performed by the authors and comparing the distinctly different protocols including length of stimulus exposure, levels of internal and external validity, and sample size considerations. Finally, a proposed protocol for a third RCT is presented that attempts to reconcile the pros and cons from the previously described studies, while maintaining rigour in the research - the authors seek feedback from conference attendees as to the protocol's viability.
Exploration of virtual environments on tablet: comparison between tactile and tangible interaction techniques

This paper presents a preliminary study which aims to investigate the tangible navigation in 3D Virtual Environments with new tablets (ex. Google Tango) that provide a self-contained 3D full tracking (ex. Google Tango, Intel RealSense). The tangible navigation was compared with tactile navigation techniques used in standard 3D applications (ex. video games, CAD, data visualization). Four conditions were compared: classic multi-touch interaction, tactile interaction with sticks, tangible interaction with a 1:2.5 scale factor and tangible interaction with a 1:5 scale factor. The study focuses on the subjective evaluation users make of the different interaction techniques in terms of usability and acceptability, and the fidelity of representation of the explored scene. Participants were asked to explore a virtual appartment using one of the four interaction techniques. Then, they were requested to draw a 2D sketch map of the explored appartment and to complete a questionnaire of usability and acceptabilty. In order to go further into the investigation, the participant's activity has also been recorded. First results show that exploring a virtual environment using only the device's movements is more usable and acceptable compared to tactile interaction technique, but the difference seems to become smaller as the used scale factor increases.
The relation between stimulus and response in olfactory receptor cells of the tiger salamander.

1. Olfactory receptor cells were isolated from the adult tiger salamander Ambystoma tigrinum and the current in response to odorant stimuli was measured with the whole‐cell voltage‐clamp technique while odorants at known concentrations were rapidly applied for controlled exposure times. 2. Three odorants, cineole, isoamyl acetate and acetophenone, were first applied at 5 x 10(‐4) M. Out of forty‐nine cells tested, 53% responded to one odorant only, 22% to two odorants and 25% to all three odorants. 3. The amplitude of the current in response to a given odorant concentration was found to be dependent on the duration of the odorant stimulus and reached a saturating peak value at 1.2 s of stimulus duration. 4. The current measured at the peak of the response for odorant steps of 1.2 s as a function of odorant concentration was well described by the Hill equation for the three odorants with Hill coefficients higher than 1 and K1/2 (odorant concentration needed to activate half the maximal current) ranging from 3 x 10(‐6) to 9 x 10(‐5) M. 5. It is concluded that olfactory receptor cells are broadly tuned and have a low apparent affinity for odorants, integrate stimulus information over time, and have a narrow dynamic range.
Clinical and imaging services for TIA and minor stroke: results of two surveys of practice across the UK

Objectives Transient ischaemic attack (TIA) is a medical emergency requiring rapid access to effective, organised, stroke prevention. There are about 90 000 TIAs per year in the UK. We assessed whether stroke-prevention services in the UK meet Government targets. Design Cross-sectional survey. Setting All UK clinical and imaging stroke-prevention services. Intervention Electronic structured survey delivered over the web with automatic recording of responses into a database; reminders to non-respondents. The survey sought information on clinic frequency, staff, case-mix, details of brain and carotid artery imaging, medical and surgical treatments. Results 114 stroke clinical and 146 imaging surveys were completed (both response rates 45%). Stroke-prevention services were available in most (97%) centres but only 31% operated 7 days/week. Half of the clinic referrals were TIA mimics, most patients (75%) were prescribed secondary prevention prior to clinic referral, and nurses performed the medical assessment in 28% of centres. CT was the most common and fastest first-line investigation; MR, used in 51% of centres, mostly after CT, was delayed up to 2 weeks in 26%; 51% of centres omitted blood-sensitive (GRE/T2*) MR sequences. Carotid imaging was with ultrasound in 95% of centres and 59% performed endarterectomy within 1 week of deciding to operate. Conclusions Stroke-prevention services are widely available in the UK. Delays to MRI, its use in addition to CT while omitting key sequences to diagnose haemorrhage, limit the potential benefit of MRI in stroke prevention, but inflate costs. Assessing TIA mimics requires clinical neurology expertise yet nurses run 28% of clinics. Further improvements are still required for optimal stroke prevention.
Experimental implementation of an IPTV architecture based on Content Delivery Network managed by VPLS technique

This work aims to shows how to use the base principles of a CDN (Content Delivery Network) to deliver Video Content through Open Internet for VoD (Video on Demand) service through a managed network to improve the reliability and to reduce the degradation due to congestion in the backbone area. The managed network is achieved by means of the VPLS (Virtual Protocol Lan Service) technique that allows the CDN to take advantages from features of a fast restoration in case of node or link failure and the Transport Engineer for the best Path.
Large Scale Collocation Data and Their Application to Japanese Word Processor Technology

Word processors or computers used in Japan employ Japanese input method through keyboard stroke combined with Kana (phonetic) character to Kanji (ideographic, Chinese) character conversion technology. The key factor of Kana-to-Kanji conversion technology is how to raise the accuracy of the conversion through the homophone processing, since we have so many homophonic Kanjis. In this paper, we report the results of our Kana-to-Kanji conversion experiments which embody the homophone processing based on large scale collocation data. It is shown that approximately 135,000 collocations yield 9.1 % raise of the conversion accuracy compared with the prototype system which has no collocation data.
Inertial Sensor-Based Touch and Shake Metaphor for Expressive Control of 3D Virtual Avatars

In this paper, we present an inertial sensor-based touch and shake metaphor for expressive control of a 3D virtual avatar in a virtual environment. An intuitive six degrees-of-freedom wireless inertial motion sensor is used as a gesture and motion control input device with a sensor fusion algorithm. The algorithm enables user hand motions to be tracked in 3D space via magnetic, angular rate, and gravity sensors. A quaternion-based complementary filter is implemented to reduce noise and drift. An algorithm based on dynamic time-warping is developed for efficient recognition of dynamic hand gestures with real-time automatic hand gesture segmentation. Our approach enables the recognition of gestures and estimates gesture variations for continuous interaction. We demonstrate the gesture expressivity using an interactive flexible gesture mapping interface for authoring and controlling a 3D virtual avatar and its motion by tracking user dynamic hand gestures. This synthesizes stylistic variations in a 3D virtual avatar, producing motions that are not present in the motion database using hand gesture sequences from a single inertial motion sensor.
A comparison of low-molecular-weight heparin administered primarily at home with unfractionated heparin administered in the hospital for proximal deep-vein thrombosis.

BACKGROUND Patients with acute proximal deep-vein thrombosis are usually treated first in the hospital with intravenous standard (unfractionated) heparin. However, the longer plasma half-life, better bioavailability after subcutaneous administration, and more predictable anticoagulant response of low-molecular-weight heparins make them attractive for possible home use. We compared these two approaches. METHODS Patients with acute proximal deep-vein thrombosis were randomly assigned to receive either intravenous standard heparin in the hospital (253 patients) or low-molecular-weight heparin (1 mg of enoxaparin per kilogram of body weight subcutaneously twice daily) administered primarily at home (247 patients). The study design allowed outpatients taking low-molecular-weight heparin to go home immediately and hospitalized patients taking low-molecular-weight heparin to be discharged early. All the patients received warfarin starting on the second day. RESULTS Thirteen of the 247 patients receiving low-molecular-weight heparin (5.3 percent) had recurrent thromboembolism, as compared with 17 of the 253 patients receiving standard heparin (6.7 percent; P=0.57; absolute difference, 1.4 percentage points; 95 percent confidence interval, -3.0 to 5.7). Five patients receiving low-molecular-weight heparin had major bleeding, as compared with three patients receiving standard heparin. After randomization, the patients who received low-molecular-weight heparin spent a mean of 1.1 days in the hospital, as compared with 6.5 days for the standard-heparin group; 120 patients in the low-molecular-weight- heparin group did not need to be hospitalized at all. CONCLUSIONS Low-molecular-weight heparin can be used safely and effectively to treat patients with proximal deep-vein thrombosis at home.
Developing a model for evaluating and prioritizing of new product development strategies under fuzzy

In the varying and uncertain environmental desires of customers, companies can not produce their current products forever. They apply different strategies to keep themselves competitive and effective in this altering environment. In this regard one of the key strategies is development of new products. New product development is one of the risky activities and is vital for survival and success of organizations. This paper introduces a model for evaluating and prioritizing new products development strategies. First, effective criteria and alternatives are identified. Then, the fuzzy multi criteria decision making method is applied to weight different measures and alternatives. In this paper, different new methods are introduced for calculation of fuzzy utilities and weights of criteria and prioritizing alternatives. For validation of the proposed model, it is applied for evaluation and prioritizing development strategies of new products in an automobile parts manufacturer. Compared to hierarchical process, the results of the proposed model were different. Also, identification and classification of effective factors for success of a new product development strategy is application of the proposed model. Key words: New product development, strategy, multi criteria decision making, fuzzy logic.