Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Common Illumination between Real and Computer Generated Scenes

The ability to merge a real video image (RVI) with a computer-generated image (CGI) enhances the usefulness of both. To go beyond ``cut and paste'''' and chroma-keying, and merge the two images successfully, one must solve the problems of common viewing parameters, common visibility and common illumination. The results can be dubbed Computer Augmented Reality (CAR). We present in this paper techniques for approximating the common global illumination for RVIs and CGIs, assuming some elements of the scene geometry of the real world and common viewing parameters are known. Since the real image is a projection of the exact solution for the global illumination in the real world (done by nature), we approximate the global illumination of the merged image by making the RVI part of the solution to the common global illumination computation. The objects in the real scene are replaced by few boxes covering them; the image intensity of the RVI is used as the initial surface radiosity of the visible part of the boxes; the surface reflectance of the boxes is approximated by subtracting an estimate of the illuminant intensity based on the concept of ambient light; finally global illumination using a classic radiosity computation is used to render the surface of the CGIs with respect to their new environment and for calculating the amount of image intensity correction needed for surfaces of the real image. An example animation testing these techniques has been produced. Most of the geometric problems have been solved in a relatively ad hoc manner. The viewing parameters were extracted by interactively matching of the synthetic scene with the RVIs. The visibility is determined by the relative position of the ``blocks'''' representing the real objects and the computer generated objects, and a moving computer generated light has been inserted. The results of the merging are encouraging, and would be effective for many applications.
Disulfide Bond Formation in the Herpes Simplex Virus 1 UL6 Protein Is Required for Portal Ring Formation and Genome Encapsidation

ABSTRACT The herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) UL6 portal protein forms a 12-subunit ring structure at a unique capsid vertex which functions as a conduit for the encapsidation of the viral genome. We have demonstrated previously that the leucine zipper region of UL6 is important for intersubunit interactions and stable ring formation (J. K. Nellissery, R. Szczepaniak, C. Lamberti, and S. K. Weller, J. Virol. 81:8868–8877, 2007). We now demonstrate that intersubunit disulfide bonds exist between monomeric subunits and contribute to portal ring formation and/or stability. Intersubunit disulfide bonds were detected in purified portal rings by SDS-PAGE under nonreducing conditions. Furthermore, the treatment of purified portal rings with dithiothreitol (DTT) resulted in the disruption of the rings, suggesting that disulfide bonds confer stability to this complex structure. The UL6 protein contains nine cysteines that were individually mutated to alanine. Two of these mutants, C166A and C254A, failed to complement a UL6 null mutant in a transient complementation assay. Furthermore, viral mutants bearing the C166A and C254A mutations failed to produce infectious progeny and were unable to cleave or package viral DNA. In cells infected with C166A or C254A, B capsids were produced which contained UL6 at reduced levels compared to those seen in wild-type capsids. In addition, C166A and C254A mutant proteins expressed in insect cells infected with recombinant baculovirus failed to form ring structures. Cysteines at positions 166 and 254 thus appear to be required for intersubunit disulfide bond formation. Taken together, these results indicate that disulfide bond formation is required for portal ring formation and/or stability and for the production of procapsids that are capable of encapsidation.
Vascular responses to a biodegradable polymer (polylactic acid) based biolimus A9-eluting stent in porcine models.

AIMS The time-dependent changes in endothelial and healing properties of coronary arteries implanted with a biodegradable polymer-based biolimus A9-eluting stent (BioPol-BES) have not been investigated. We evaluated the short-term and the long-term in vivo response of BioPol-BES, as compared to a permanent polymer-based sirolimus-eluting stent (PermPol-SES), and a bare metal stent (BMS). METHODS AND RESULTS Overlapping stents were placed in 33 swine (n=11 for BES, SES, and BMS, respectively) for two and four weeks and single stents in 30 miniature pigs (n=18 for BES, n=9 for SES, n=3 for BMS) for three, nine and 15-month evaluations. The vessel patency, arterial healing and endothelialisation were assessed by angiography, histopathology and scanning electron microscopy. At four weeks, the endothelialisation at overlapping stent regions was greater with BioPol-BES (87.8±3.7%) and BMSs (98.0±0.4%) than with PermPol-SES (66.4±3.2%). The inflammation score in vessels implanted with single BioPol-BES increased slightly from three to 15 months (0.00±0.00 to 0.28±0.14), while this increase was more pronounced with PermPol-SES (0.11±0.07 to 1.56±0.68). Compared to BMS moderate lymphocyte infiltration was seen with BioPol-BES, and marked granulomatous formation with PermPol-SES. CONCLUSIONS The level of endothelial coverage in BioPol-BES was comparable to BMS at four weeks, with no significant increase of inflammatory reaction up to 15 months.
Multiclass classification of hemodynamic responses for performance improvement of functional near-infrared spectroscopy-based brain–computer interface

Abstract. We improved the performance of a functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)-based brain–computer interface based on relatively short task duration and multiclass classification. A custom-built eight-channel fNIRS system was used over the motor cortex areas in both hemispheres to measure the hemodynamic responses evoked by four different motor tasks (overt execution of arm lifting and knee extension for both sides) instead of finger tapping. The hemodynamic responses were classified using the naive Bayes classifier. Among the mean, max, slope, variance, and median of the signal amplitude and the time lag of the signal, several signal features are chosen to obtain highest classification accuracy. Ten runs of threefold cross-validation were conducted, which yielded classification accuracies of 87.1%±2.4% to 95.5%±2.4%, 77.5%±1.9% to 92.4%±3.2%, and 73.8%±3.5% to 91.5%±1.4% for the binary, ternary, and quaternary classifications, respectively. Eight seconds of task duration for obtaining sufficient quaternary classification accuracy was suggested. The bit transfer rate per minute (BPM) based on the quaternary classification accuracy was investigated. A BPM can be achieved from 2.81 to 5.40 bits/min.
ACTIONS OF TWO TYPES OF THIAMINASE ON THIAMIN AND ITS ANALOGUES

It has been well established by many workers that thiaminase I (EC 2.5.1.2) is found in shellfish, fresh-water fish (mainly in viscera), fern, and a limited number of sea fish and plants, and produced in microorganisms such as Bacillus and Clostridium. Thiaminase I1 (EC 3.5.99.2) is produced in other types of Bacillus, Trichosporon, Candidu, Oospora, and other organisms. The history of their discoveries has been described in detail elsewhere. '" They are usually inactive in living cells, but are activated when they are homogenized in a water solution around pH 4-8 or excreted from cells or microorganisms into the medium. Thiaminase I catalyzes the cleavage of thiamin by an exchange reaction with an organic base as well as with a sulfhydryl compound involving a nucleophilic displacement on the methylene group of the pyrimidine moiety of thiamin. On the other hand, thiaminase I1 simply accelerates the hydrolysis of thiamin into its pyrimidine and thiazole moieties. Many experimental observations and the identification of a number of exchange products of thiamin with various organic basic or thiol compounds by thiaminase I, and the isolation of pyrimidine and thiazole moieties of thiamin from a reaction mixture of thiamin and bacterial thiaminase I I were introduced in the abovementioned review^. ^. ' In this paper, modes of action of the two types of thiaminase on thiamin and its analogues or derivatives,+* including thiamin pyrophosphate (TPP)9 will be summarized and some additional works of thiaminase will be introduced. ". "
Identification and Characterization of the Thermus thermophilus 5-Methylcytidine (m5C) Methyltransferase Modifying 23 S Ribosomal RNA (rRNA) Base C1942*

Background: The enzymes methylating C1942 and C1962 in 23 S ribosomal RNA of Thermus thermophilus remained to be identified. Results: The methyltransferase targeting C1942 was identified and characterized with respect to substrate, exact product, and structure. Conclusion: The methyltransferase has structural similarities with previously characterized methyltransferases producing 5-methylcytidine and 5-methyluridine. Significance: The structure of RNA-methylating enzymes is important in the delineation of their evolution. Methylation of cytidines at carbon-5 is a common posttranscriptional RNA modification encountered across all domains of life. Here, we characterize the modifications of C1942 and C1962 in Thermus thermophilus 23 S rRNA as 5-methylcytidines (m5C) and identify the two associated methyltransferases. The methyltransferase modifying C1942, named RlmO, has not been characterized previously. RlmO modifies naked 23 S rRNA, but not the assembled 50 S subunit or 70 S ribosomes. The x-ray crystal structure of this enzyme in complex with the S-adenosyl-l-methionine cofactor at 1.7 Å resolution confirms that RlmO is structurally related to other m5C rRNA methyltransferases. Key residues in the active site are located similar to the further distant 5-methyluridine methyltransferase RlmD, suggestive of a similar enzymatic mechanism. RlmO homologues are primarily found in mesophilic bacteria related to T. thermophilus. In accordance, we find that growth of the T. thermophilus strain with an inactivated C1942 methyltransferase gene is not compromised at non-optimal temperatures.
Growth of TiN∕GaN metal/semiconductor multilayers by reactive pulsed laser deposition

TiN∕GaN metal/semiconductor multilayers were grown by reactive pulsed laser deposition in an ammonia ambient on sapphire and MgO substrates for potential application in solid-state thermionic direct energy conversion devices. Crystallographic analysis of the multilayers by high-resolution x-ray diffraction and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy revealed that, despite the difference in the crystal structures of rocksalt TiN and wurtzite GaN, it is possible to grow thick (micron scale) uniaxially textured columnar-grained multilayers with nanoscale periods and without agglomeration. X-ray scattering suggests that epitaxial growth of TiN∕GaN multilayers on (100) MgO substrates stabilizes ultrathin (1–2nm) GaN layers in the high-pressure rocksalt polymorph yielding (100) oriented rocksalt TiN∕GaN superlattices. The challenges in growth and the chemical and morphological stability of lattice- and structure-mismatched multilayers are discussed on the basis of kinetic and thermodynamic factors.
Flies who cannot take the heat: genome‐wide gene expression analysis of temperature‐sensitive lethality in an inbred line of Drosophila melanogaster

Fitness decreases associated with inbreeding depression often become more pronounced in a stressful environment. The functional genomic causes of these inbreeding‐by‐environment (I × E) interactions, and of inbreeding depression in general, are poorly known. To further our understanding of I × E interactions, we performed a genome‐wide gene expression study of a single inbred line that suffers from temperature‐sensitive lethality. We confirmed that increased differential expression between the thermosensitive line and the control line occurs at the restrictive temperature. This demonstrates that I × E interactions in survival are reflected in similar I × E interactions at the gene expression level. To make an impression of the cellular response associated with the lethal effect, we analysed all functional annotation terms that were overrepresented among the differentially expressed genes. Some sets of differentially expressed genes function in the general stress response, and these are more likely to also be differentially expressed in other studies of inbreeding, inbreeding depression, immunity and heat stress. Other sets of differentially expressed genes are shared with studies of gene expression in inbred lines, but not studies of the response to extrinsic stress, and represent a general transcriptomic signature of inbreeding. Finally, some sets of genes have an annotation that is not reported in other studies. These we consider to be candidates for the genes harbouring the mutations responsible for the thermosensitive phenotype, as these mutations are expected to be unique to this line. These genes may also serve as candidate QTL in studies of thermal tolerance and heat resistance.
The lumbar arteries and veins: Quantification of variable anatomical positioning with application to retroperitoneal surgery

The lumbar arteries and veins are segmentally arranged vessels in the abdomen that supply the vertebrae and posterior abdominal/paravertebral muscles. Recent studies have indicated that these vessels have a tendency to vary from the classical description of bilateral pairing. The objective of this study was to more accurately characterize the anatomy of the lumbar vessels through the dissection of 22 cadaveric specimens and examination of 41 patients' computed tomography angiography scans. The positions of the lumbar vessels were measured in reference to the bifurcation/confluence of the common iliac arteries/veins. In 22 cadaveric specimens, the course of the lumbar veins was dissected to the psoas major muscle to characterize venous tributaries. Our results indicate that the lumbar veins were rarely paired, segmentally diverged closer to the iliocaval confluence, and preferentially drained into the left side of the IVC. Several types of lumbar veins were additionally characterized based on their consistent coursing patterns. In contrast, the lumbar arteries exhibited pairing, and these successive pairs were found to be equally spaced along the length of the infrarenal abdominal aorta. In specimens where the median sacral artery and 4th lumbar artery pair arose from a trifurcating common trunk, the positions of the 3rd and 4th lumbar arteries were significantly inferior (P < 0.05) compared to those with independent median sacral arteries. Clinically, proper management of the anatomical patterns described in this study may be pivotal in reducing the incidence of intraoperative damage to the lumbar vessels, and may help in the treatment of vascular diseases. Clin. Anat. 28:649–660, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Explicit expressions for the receiver sensitivity and system penalties of optically preamplified direct-detection systems

Novel analytical closed-form expressions for the receiver sensitivity of an optically preamplified direct-detection transmission system and the system power penalties arising from excess electrical and optical filter bandwidths and finite extinction ratio are presented. An explicit analytical expression covering the combined effects of APD noise, receiver circuit noise, finite extinction ratio, electrical and optical filter bandwidths, amplifier noise, and input coupling loss is given. These results form a useful basis for the design of high sensitivity optically preamplified transmission systems. <<ETX>>
K models and type IIB superstring backgrounds.

A family of type IIB superstring backgrounds involving Ramond-Ramond fields are obtained in ten dimensions starting from a {ital K} model through a generalization of our recent results. The unbroken global SL(2,{ital R}) symmetry of the type IIB equations of motion are implemented in this context as a solution generating transformation. A geometrical analysis, based on the tensor structure of the higher order {alpha}{sup {prime}} terms in the equations of motion, is employed to show that these backgrounds are exact. {copyright} {ital 1996 The American Physical Society. }
Fake Review Detection on Yelp

Online reviews have become an important factor when people make purchase and business decisions. The increasing popularity of online reviews also stimulates the business of fake review writing, which refers to paid human writers producing deceptive reviews to influence readers’ opinions. Our project tackles this problem by building a classifier that takes the review text and the basic information of its reviewer as input and outputs whether the review is reliable. The learning algorithms we experimented include logistic regression, linear discriminant analysis, multinomial Naive Bayes, support vector machines and neural networks. The results show that the neural network performs the best with a detection accuracy of 81.92%.
Dissipation in highly anisotropic superconductors.

In layered superconductors with very weak coupling between the layers the concept of a flux-line lattice breaks down when the field is oriented parallel to the superconducting planes. For an arbitrary field orientation we propose that the formation of an Abrikosov lattice is only related to the perpendicular field component. The parallel field component penetrates as if the superconducting planes were completely decoupled. This model explains recent experiments which have questioned the driving mechanism for dissipation in the superconducting phase of the high-temperature oxide superconductors.
Design of an innovative construction model for supply chain management by measuring agility and cost of quality: An empirical study

This paper aims to present a model for an agile supply chain network in construction enterprises with performance evaluation of suppliers and contractors. Management and selection of suppliers and contractors play an important role in the process of constructions since contractors are as corner stones of construction projects. Additionally, contractors are the main factor in converting resources to final products. Traditionally, contractor selection in construction projects is on the basis of the lowest proposed price. However, there are various qualitative and quantitative criteria with different priorities associated in this regards in order to make the best decision. In this paper, a hybrid method of DEA/AHP/FDEMATEL is used. First, important and effective evaluation criteria are selected through an FDEMATEL method. Then, the DEA/AHP method is implemented in order to evaluate and prioritize the selected indicators as well as to incorporate them in a supply chain. Furthermore, agility is involved in the considered supply chain network. Furthermore, in this paper for the first time in Iran, a supply chain model is studied and designed for civil companies.
Combined Effects of Experimental Acidification and Eutrophication on Reef Sponge Bioerosion Rates

Health of tropical coral reefs depends largely on the balance between constructive (calcification and cementation) and destructive forces (mechanical-chemical degradation). Gradual increase in dissolved CO2 and the resulting decrease in carbonate ion concentration ('ocean acidification') in ocean surface water may tip the balance towards net mass loss for many reefs. Enhanced nutrients and organic loading in surface waters (‘eutrophication’), may increase the susceptibility of coral reef and near shore environments to ocean acidification. The impacts of these processes on coral calcification have been repeatedly reported, however the synergetic effects on bioerosion rates by sponges are poorly studied. Erosion by excavating sponges is achieved by a combination of chemical dissolution and mechanical chip removal. In this study, Cliona caribbaea, a photosymbiont-bearing excavating sponge widely distributed in Caribbean reef habitats, was exposed to a range of CO2 concentrations, as well as different eutrophication levels. Total bioerosion rates, estimated from changes in buoyant weights over 1 week, increased significantly with pCO2 but not with eutrophication. Observed chemical bioerosion rates were positively affected by both pCO2 and eutrophication but no interaction was revealed. Net photosynthetic activity was enhanced with rising pCO2 but not with increasing eutrophication levels. These results indicate that an increase in organic matter and nutrient renders sponge bioerosion less dependent on autotrophic products. At low and ambient pCO2, day-time chemical rates were ~50% higher than those observed at night-time. A switch was observed in bioerosion under higher pCO2 levels, with night-time chemical bioerosion rates becoming comparable or even higher than day-time rates. We suggest that the difference in rates between day and night at low and ambient pCO2 indicates that the benefit of acquired energy from photosynthetic activity surpasses the positive effect of increased pCO2 levels at night due to holobiont respiration. This implies that excavation must cost cellular energy, by processes such as ATP usage for active Ca2+ and/or active proton pumping. Additionally, competition for dissolved inorganic carbon species may occur between bioerosion and photosynthetic activity by the symbionts. Either way, the observed changing role of symbionts in bioerosion can be attributed to enhanced photosynthetic activity at high pCO2 levels.
Traditional Ecological Knowledge in Environmental Assessment and Management

It is now a policy requirement that "traditional ecological knowledge" (TEK) be incorporated into environmental assessment and resource management in the North. However, there is little common understanding about what TEK is, and no guidance on how to implement the policy in public arenas where knowledge claims must be tested. The problems are inconsistent and unclear definitions of TEK, and insufficient attention to appropriate methods of organizing and presenting it for assessment and management purposes. TEK can be classified as knowledge about the environment, knowledge about the use of the environment, values about the environment, and the knowledge system itself. All categories are required for environmental assessment, but each must be presented and examined differently. TEK and "Western" science provide partially different information, based on different sets of observations and procedures, and sometimes on different knowledge claims. It is important that TEK be comprehensible and testable as a knowledge claim in public reviews, and usable for ongoing public monitoring and co-management processes. To this end, certain procedures are recommended for recording, organizing, and presenting TEK, with particular emphasis on the need to differentiate between observation and inference or association. Documenting TEK as recommended usually requires trained intermediaries, but they in turn require the support and cooperation of those who have TEK. One consequence is that it is often both impractical and inappropriate to require development proponents to incorporate TEK into their environmental impact statements. However, the environmental assessment process must facilitate the use of TEK in the public review phase.