Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A fast FPW allergy analyzer prototype for point of care (POC)

An IgE antigen concentration analyzer system using a pair of two-port FPW (flexural plate-wave) sensors is proposed in this paper. The proposed system utilizes a frequency-shift readout method based on a peak detecting scheme to measure the resonant frequency shift. The frequency-shift readout circuit is integrated on silicon composed of a linear frequency generator, two peak detectors, two registers, and a subtractor. The frequency sweep range is from in 0.5 MHz to 11.6 MHz according to the characteristics of the FPW allergy biosensor. The sensitivity of the peak detector is 5 mV. The proposed frequency-shift readout circuit is verified by a prototype on PCB, where the maximal power consumption is 54 mW@5 kHz clock.
Large Margin Coupled Feature Learning for cross-modal face recognition

This paper presents a Large Margin Coupled Feature Learning (LMCFL) method for cross-modal face recognition, which recognizes persons from facial images captured from different modalities. Most previous cross-modal face recognition methods utilize hand-crafted feature descriptors for face representation, which require strong prior knowledge to engineer and cannot exploit data-adaptive characteristics in feature extraction. In this work, we propose a new LMCFL method to learn coupled face representation at the image pixel level by jointly utilizing the discriminative information of face images in each modality and the correlation information of face images from different modalities. Thus, LMCFL can maximize the margin between positive face pairs and negative face pairs in each modality, and maximize the correlation of face images from different modalities, where discriminative face features can be automatically learned in a discriminative and data-driven way. Our LMCFL is validated on two different cross-modal face recognition applications, and the experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed approach.
Graph-based multiple-instance learning with instance weighting for image retrieval

Object-based image retrieval has been an active research topic in recent years, in which user only pays his attention to some object in the images. As one promising approach, multiple-instance learning has attracted many researchers. Most of recently proposed methods either need additional restrictions for instance selection or lead to heavy computational load, so that they are often inconvenient for practical applications. In this paper, a novel method based on weighting regions in positive images is proposed, which mainly includes two steps of graph-based learning. The first step is only conducted on regions in training images, and different weights are efficiently set to each region in positive images based on the learning results. The second step is conducted on regions of all the database images, regions in positive images are fully utilized without selection, and ranking scores for each image are calculated. Experimental results demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposal.
Distribution and variation in sago extraction equipment: convergent and secondary technologies in island southeast Asia

It is argued, following Francois Sigaut, that the way elements of technology are invented, borrowed and re-combined challenges the notion of 'technical lineage', with its implication of 'successive orderly accretions'. The contention is examined in relation to pith removal equipment used in palm starch extraction in island southeast Asia and Melanesia, which is considered additionally instructive because it yields some potential archaeological traces. The key archaeotypes - pounding and rasping tools - reflect convergent and secondary technologies that most likely were adapted to sago processing from other cultural domains. Pounders are found mainly in the eastern part of the geographic range, and rasps in the west. There is much variability in the distribution of types, even within a small area. Inferences are drawn relating to recent changes (for example, from stone to metal working edges, and from pounders to rasps), and concerning what we can learn from the distribution of different kinds of tool, including the likelihood of versions of the same tool co-existing in the same place, or being independently invented at opposite ends of the archipelago.
Photocatalytic inactivation of influenza virus by titanium dioxide thin film

Titanium dioxide (TiO_2) under ultraviolet (UV) light produces a strong oxidative effect and may therefore be used as a photocatalytic disinfectant. Although many studies on the photocatalytic inactivation of bacteria have been reported, few studies have addressed virus inactivation. In the present study, we demonstrated the inactivation of influenza virus through TiO_2 photocatalysis using TiO_2 nanoparticles immobilized on a glass plate. The influences of the UV intensity, UV irradiation time and bovine serum albumin (BSA) concentration in the viral suspensions on the inactivation kinetics were investigated. Additionally, we also determined whether the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) methodology for the evaluation of antibacterial activity of TiO_2 photocatalysis could be applied to the evaluation of antiviral activity. The viral titers were dramatically reduced by the photocatalytic reaction. Even with a low intensity of UV-A (0.01 mW cm^−2), a viral reduction of approximately 4-log_10 was observed within a short irradiation time. The viral inactivation kinetics were associated with the exposure time, the UV intensity and the BSA concentration in virus suspensions. These results show that TiO_2 photocatalysis could be used to inactivate the influenza virus. Furthermore, a minor modification of the ISO test method for anti-bacterial effects of TiO_2 photocatalysis could be useful for the evaluation of antiviral activity.
A Theory of Natural Addiction

Economic theories of rational addiction aim to describe consumer behavior in the presence of habit-forming goods. We provide a biological foundation for this body of work by formally specifying conditions under which it is optimal to form a habit. We demonstrate the empirical validity of our thesis with an in-depth review and synthesis of the biomedical literature concerning the action of opiates in the mammalian brain and their effects on behavior. Our results lend credence to many of the unconventional behavioral assumptions employed by theories of rational addiction, including adjacent complementarity and the importance of cues, attention, and self-control in determining the behavior of addicts. Our approach suggests, however, that addiction is "harmful" only when the addict fails to implement the optimal solution. We offer evidence for the special case of the opiates that harmful addiction is the manifestation of a mismatch between behavioral algorithms encoded in the human genome and the expanded menu of choices generated for example, by advances in drug delivery technology faced by consumers in the modern world.
Can flow cytometry play a part in cell based high‐content screening?

In parallel to gene therapy and cellular therapy it is clear that the more traditional pharmacological approaches still have a major role to play in the treatment of most diseases. Two drug-discovery strategies are widely used in the pharmaceutical industry: the so-called rational drug design and the most recent screening-based strategy. Rational drug design requires usually an excellent knowledge of the biomolecular target: molecular mechanisms of action, three-dimensional structure, etc. It is scientifically sound and often efficient but rather time consuming. To cope with an exponentially increasing number of potentially interesting targets derived from genomic and proteomic studies, the industry has developed the screening-based approach since the 1990s. It has proven to be very efficient to afford original hit compounds that may open the way to drug development. During the last decades
A Literature Survey on Blur Detection Algorithms for Digital Imaging

Development of blur detection algorithms has attracted many attentions in recent years. The blur detection algorithms are found very helpful in real life applications and therefore have been developed in various multimedia related research areas including image restoration, image enhancement, and image segmentation. These researches have helped us in compensating some unintentionally blurred images, resulted from out-of-focus objects, extreme light intensity, physical imperfection of camera lenses and motion blur distortion. Overview on a few blur detection methods will be presented in this paper. The methods covered in this manuscript are based on edge sharpness analysis, low depth of field (DOF) image segmentation, blind image de-convolution, Bayes discriminant function method, non-reference (NR) block, lowest directional high frequency energy (for motion blur detection) and wavelet-based histogram with Support Vector Machine (SVM). It is found that there are still a lot of future works need to be done in developing an efficient blur detection algorithm.
Precise segmentation of the lateral ventricles and caudate nucleus in MR brain images using anatomically driven histograms

This paper demonstrates a time-saving, automated method that helps to segment the lateral ventricles and caudate nucleus in T1-weighted coronal magnetic resonance (MR) brain images of normal control subjects. The method involves choosing intensity thresholds by using anatomical information and by locating peaks in histograms. To validate the method, the lateral ventricles and caudate nucleus were segmented in three brain scans by four experts, first using an established method involving isointensity contours and manual editing, and second using automatically generated intensity thresholds as an aid to the established method. The results demonstrate both time savings and increased reliability.
Hypermethylation of CpG Islands and Shores around Specific MicroRNAs and Mirtrons Is Associated with the Phenotype and Presence of Bladder Cancer

Purpose: To analyze the role and translational potential for hypermethylation of CpG islands and shores in the regulation of small RNAs within urothelial cell carcinoma (UCC). To examine microRNAs (miR) and mirtrons, a new class of RNA located within gene introns and processed in a Drosha-independent manner. Experimental design: The methylation status of 865 small RNAs was evaluated in normal and malignant cell lines by using 5-azacytidine and microarrays. Bisulfite sequencing was used for CpG regions around selected RNAs. Prognostic and diagnostic associations for epigenetically regulated RNAs were examined by using material from 359 patients, including 216 tumors and 121 urinary samples (68 cases and 53 controls). Functional analyses examined the effect of silencing susceptible RNAs in normal urothelial cells. Results: Exonic/UTR-located miRs and mirtons are most susceptible to epigenetic regulation. We identified 4 mirtrons and 16 miRs with CpG hypermethylation across 35 regions in normal and malignant urothelium. For several miRs, hypermethylation was more frequent and dense in CpG shores than islands (e.g., miRs-9/149/210/212/328/503/1224/1227/1229), and was associated with tumor grade, stage, and prognosis (e.g., miR-1224 multivariate analysis OR = 2.5; 95% CI, 1.3–5.0; P = 0.006). The urinary expression of epigenetically silenced RNAs (miRs-152/328/1224) was associated with the presence of UCC (concordance index, 0.86; 95% CI, 0.80–0.93; ANOVA P < 0.016). Conclusions: Hypermethylation of mirtrons and miRs is common in UCC. Mirtrons appear particularly susceptible to epigenetic regulation. Aberrant hypermethylation of small RNAs is associated with the presence and behavior of UCC, suggesting potential roles as diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. Clin Cancer Res; 17(6); 1287–96. ©2010 AACR.
Complete Genome Sequence of Chikungunya Virus Isolated in the Philippines

ABSTRACT Chikungunya virus is an alphavirus of the Togaviridae family, which causes a febrile illness with arthralgia in humans. We report here on the complete genome sequence of chikungunya virus strain CHIKV-13-112A isolated from a patient in the Philippines who was suspected to have dengue virus. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the strain is of the Asian genotype.
Logistics

Feeding the men and animals of the Army of Tennessee required thousands of tons of food to be transported by wagon, train, and steamboat. In addition to transportation, feeding the army proved difficult because its food supply had to be shared with other branches of the Confederate Army. Soldiers often complained of monotonous rations. Capt. Moses H. Wright’s Atlanta Arsenal supplied most of the Army of Tennessee’s ammunition. However, the Atlanta Arsenal struggled to keep up with demand, and army personnel complained about defective equipment. An attempt to uniformly equip soldiers with weapons ultimately failed. The Atlanta Quartermaster Depot made shoes exclusively for the Army of Tennessee. This depot also made clothing for the army. Shortages of clothing and shoes persisted. The Army of Tennessee relied on the Western & Atlantic railroad to transport materials from Atlanta, which at times did not have enough engines to provide adequate supplies. Overall, the Army of Tennessee had industrial assets, but an inadequate transportation system led to meat shortages, which decreased morale and resulted in desertions. Additionally, the poor transportation system prevented additional troops from reaching the disastrous Battle of Chickamauga.
Towards Corrosion Detection System

Corrosion is a natural process that seeks to reduce the binding energy in metals. The end result of corrosion involves a metal atom being oxidized. Surface corrosion on aluminum aircraft skins, near joints and around fasteners, is often an indicator of buried structural corrosion and cracking In this paper we proposed a new method on which we are moving towards designing a method to detect the corrosion within the metals, the new method has defined texture analysis as the main method for this approach, the proposed enhancement shows less false positive and less false negative. The main functions used in this approach beside texture analysis are Edge detection, structure element and image dilation. The new approach has designed to detect a part of the image that has been affected by the corrosion, the tested images has showed a good result lying on detecting the corrosion part from the image.
Various techniques for low bit rate video coding

In this paper various techniques for low bit rate video coding are studied and implemented. The selection of an optimal regular-shaped pattern set for very low bit-rate video coding, focusing on moving regions has been the objective of much recent research in order to try and improve bit-rate efficiency. An approach to Variable Size Block Matching is also implemented, based on the binary partitioning of blocks. If a particular block does not allow for accurate motion compensation, then it is split into two using the horizontal or vertical line that achieves the maximum reduction in motion compensation error. This method causes partitioning to occur along motion boundaries, thus substantially reducing blocking artifacts. In addition, small blocks are placed in regions of complex motion, while large blocks cover regions of uniform motion. Also the paper is a review of the block matching algorithms used for motion estimation in video compression. It implements and compares 7 different types of block matching algorithms that range from the very basic Exhaustive Search to the recent fast adaptive algorithms like Adaptive Rood Pattern Search.
In vivo generation of a mature and functional artificial skeletal muscle

Extensive loss of skeletal muscle tissue results in mutilations and severe loss of function. In vitro‐generated artificial muscles undergo necrosis when transplanted in vivo before host angiogenesis may provide oxygen for fibre survival. Here, we report a novel strategy based upon the use of mouse or human mesoangioblasts encapsulated inside PEG‐fibrinogen hydrogel. Once engineered to express placental‐derived growth factor, mesoangioblasts attract host vessels and nerves, contributing to in vivo survival and maturation of newly formed myofibres. When the graft was implanted underneath the skin on the surface of the tibialis anterior, mature and aligned myofibres formed within several weeks as a complete and functional extra muscle. Moreover, replacing the ablated tibialis anterior with PEG‐fibrinogen‐embedded mesoangioblasts also resulted in an artificial muscle very similar to a normal tibialis anterior. This strategy opens the possibility for patient‐specific muscle creation for a large number of pathological conditions involving muscle tissue wasting.
Health care utilization and psychosocial factors in pediatric noncardiac chest pain.

OBJECTIVE This study investigated factors related to health care utilization (HCU) among patients presenting to pediatric cardiologists with symptoms of chest pain later diagnosed as noncardiac chest pain (NCCP). METHODS Participants included 67 children and adolescents diagnosed with NCCP and their parent. Measures of HCU, pain severity, and child self-report and parent self-report of anxiety and depression were collected at the cardiologist's office. The child's sex was examined as a moderator of HCU. RESULTS Pain severity and maternal and child depression were significant contributors to the variance in child HCU. The relationship between depression and HCU was moderated by the child's sex, with boys higher in levels of maternal or child depression reporting greater HCU. CONCLUSIONS Psychological factors are related to HCU for children with NCCP, with depression positively associated with HCU. The child's sex plays an important role in depression and HCU. Family-focused psychological screening of pediatric patients with NCCP may aid in identifying families who may benefit from referrals for psychological assessment and treatment.
Screening and Counseling for Childhood Obesity: Results from a National Survey

Purpose: To examine family physicians’ beliefs and practices about using body mass index (BMI) percentiles to screen for childhood overweight and obesity. Methods: Surveys about management of childhood overweight were mailed to 1800 American Academy of Family Physician members in 2006. Results: 729 surveys were returned; 445 were eligible. Most (71%) members were familiar with BMI guidelines; 41% were familiar with American Academy of Family Physician recommendations about overweight. Most (78%) had tools available to calculate BMI; fewer have enough time for overweight screening (55%), and only 45% reported computing BMI percentile at most or every well visit for children older than 2. Having an electronic health record increased BMI screening rates. Family physicians felt prepared to discuss weight, but only 43% believed their counseling was effective and many (55%) lack community or referral services. Most (72%) wanted simple diet and exercise recommendations for patients. Reimbursement for weight-related services is insufficient: 86% say that patients cannot pay for services not covered by insurance. Factor analysis identified clinician self-efficacy, resources, and reimbursement as factors related to calculating BMI percentiles. Conclusions: BMI is underutilized by family physicians. Most believe they should try to prevent overweight and have tools to use BMI, but clinicians have few resources available for treatment, have low self-efficacy, and report inadequate reimbursement.
Fast Transforms for Intra-prediction-based Image and Video Coding

In this paper, we provide an overview of the DCT/DST transform scheme for intra coding in the HEVC standard. A unique feature of this scheme is the use of DST-VII transforms in addition to DCT-II. We further derive factorizations for fast joint computation of DCT-II and DST-VII transforms of several sizes. Simulation results for the DCT/DST scheme in the HM reference software for HEVC are also provided together with a discussion on computational complexity.
Worldwide messaging support for high performance real-time collaboration

The requirements for collaborative services, especially pertaining to order and delivery, are quite different compared to traditional distributed applications. The NaradaBrokering (NB) messaging substrate enables scalable, fault-tolerant, distributed interactions between entities, and is based on the publish/subscribe paradigm. The substrate also incorporates support for Grid and Web Service. More recently, we have incorporated services within the substrate which enable us to facilitate richer collaborative interactions. We have performed benchmark tests on machines in the USA, UK and Australia to gauge the performance and scalability of the NaradaBrokering substrate over worldwide networks using benchmarking software developed alongside NaradaBrokering with varying message payloads and large attachments over Parallel TCP. In this paper, we demonstrate how our results show that the substrate can indeed be utilised to achieve maximum performance in a collaborative messaging environment over worldwide networks with the ability to maintain performance notwithstanding scalability constraints.
Performance Analysis of Multistream Receive Spatial Modulation in the MIMO Broadcast Channel

In this paper, Multi-Stream Receive-Spatial Modulation (MSR-SM) for application to the Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) broadcast channel is introduced and studied. MSR-SM is a closed-loop transmission scheme, which applies the concept of multistream space modulation at the receiver side. An accurate mathematical framework for the evaluation of the Bit Error Rate (BER) is proposed. In addition, the diversity order and coding gain of the new architecture are derived. Note that the proposed analytical framework takes into account both the small-scale fading and the system topology, and is directly applicable to the conventional MIMO broadcast channel. Compared with the state-of-the-art MIMO transmission in the broadcast channel, it is mathematically shown that MSR-SM achieves the same diversity order and a better coding gain, in the high Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) regime. Finally, the proposed mathematical framework and the new findings are validated via Monte Carlo simulation results.
Behavior of tissue-engineered skin: a comparison of a living skin equivalent, autograft, and occlusive dressing in human donor sites.

OBJECTIVE To compare the behavior of a tissue-engineered living skin equivalent (LSE) with an autograft in acute donor site wounds. DESIGN Paired-comparison, randomized control trial. SETTING A university dermatology service. PATIENTS Three donor sites were created on the anterior thigh of each of 20 patients requiring split-thickness skin grafts. INTERVENTION For each patient, the donor sites were randomly assigned to be treated with meshed LSE, meshed autograft, or a polyurethane film (PUF) occlusive dressing. Blood and biopsy samples were taken for immunologic and histological studies. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Toxic effects or clinically apparent rejection, humoral and cellular immune responses, clinical take, healing time, pain, and 1-month histological appearance. RESULTS There was no toxic effect or clinically apparent rejection of LSE. Results of humoral and cellular studies were unchanged from baseline. The average time to healing for LSE with clinical take was 7.3 days (SD, +/- 0.8 days); for autograft, 7.6 days (SD, +/- 1.1 days); and for PUF, 9.5 days (SD, +/- 1.8 days). The difference between LSE or autograft and PUF was statistically significant at the . 001 level. Pain was experienced by 1 patient, no patients, and 10 patients at the LSE, autograft, and PUF sites, respectively. Histologically, LSE had the thickest epidermis (P = .02), PUF had the greatest degree of fibrosis (P = .02), and autograft had the least degree of increased inflammation (P = .004) and vascularity (P = .01). CONCLUSIONS In acute donor site wounds, LSE appeared to clinically take and to be a safe and usable form of tissue therapy.