Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Visualizing Attack Trees with Circle Packing A research paper

This paper explores the idea of visualizing attack trees by using circle packing; a tree visualization method which looks like a treemap but with circles. A proposal and proof of concept is presented to show how a basic attack tree can be visualized in this new way. And lastly, options to extend this visualization to support more kinds of different attack trees are explored.
The Study of PEEK Composites as the Dental Implant Materials

Polyetheretherketone (PEEK) is a kind of synthetic thermoplastic polymer, because of its good biological compatibility, chemical stability and radiolucency, it has been widely used in the field of medicine. Compared with the titanium, the elastic modulus of PEEK is closer to human cortical bone, PEEK could be a viable alternative material for dental implants. Nevertheless the inherent bio-inert nature and lower osteogenic activity limit its wider clinical applications, thus a considerable effort has been made to improve its biological properties. This article makes a summary on the research progress of the application of PEEK composites in dental implant.
Emodiversity: Robust Predictor of Outcomes or Statistical Artifact?

This article examines the concept of emodiversity, put forward by Quoidbach et al. (2014) as a novel source of information about “the health of the human emotional ecosystem” (p. 2057). Quoidbach et al. drew an analogy between emodiversity as a desirable property of a person’s emotional make-up and biological diversity as a desirable property of an ecosystem. They claimed that emodiversity was an independent predictor of better mental and physical health outcomes in two large-scale studies. Here, we show that Quoidbach et al.’s construct of emodiversity suffers from several theoretical and practical deficiencies, which make these authors’ use of Shannon’s (1948) entropy formula to measure emodiversity highly questionable. Our reanalysis of Quoidbach et al.’s two studies shows that the apparently substantial effects that these authors reported are likely due to a failure to conduct appropriate hierarchical regression in one case and to suppression effects in the other. It appears that Quoidbach et al.’s claims about emodiversity may reduce to little more than a set of computational and statistical artifacts.
GLOBAL NETWORKS AND DOMESTIC POLICY CONVERGENCE A NETWORK EXPLANATION OF POLICY CHANGES

National economies are embedded in complex networks such as trade, capital flows, and intergovernmental organizations (IGOs). These globalization forces impose differential impacts on national economies depending on a country’s network positions. This paper addresses the policy convergence-divergence debate by focusing on how networks at the international level affect domestic fiscal, monetary, and regulatory policies. I present two hypotheses: first, the similarity in network positions induces convergence in domestic economic policies as a result of peer competitive pressure. Second, proximity in network positions facilitates policy learning and emulation which result in policy convergence. The empirical analysis applies a latent-space model for relational/dyadic data and indicates that position similarity in the network of exports induces convergence in fiscal and regulatory policies; position similarity in the network of transnational portfolio investments induces convergence in fiscal policies; network position proximity in IGO networks has been consistently associated with policy convergence in fiscal, monetary, and regulatory policies.
Power decoupling method for single-phase buck-boost inverter with energy-based control

This paper presents a single-phase differential buck-boost inverter with an energy-based control, which adapts to various DC input voltages and achieves active power decoupling without additional devices. The proposed energy-based control technique calculates the duty cycles of the switches according to the energy demanded by the load. To achieve active power decoupling, the double line-frequency pulsating power is controlled to deliver to the output capacitors instead of to the DC side. An active damping control method is also employed with the energy-based control to suppress the voltage and current pulsation at the resonant frequency. Simulation and experimental results show that the proposed control technique achieves successful power decoupling with substantial reduction of second-order component in the DC current, and effectively mitigates the ripple current at the resonant frequency.
Cross-Sectional Guidelines for Therapy with Blood Components and Plasma Derivatives (4th revised edition, 2008) – Suspension of Chapter 5 ‘Human Albumin’

Due to the discovery of grave scientific misconduct [1, 2] by Prof. Dr J. Boldt, the co-author of the Cross-Sectional Guidelines for Therapy with Blood Components and Plasma Derivatives [3], the Scientific Advisory Board has decided to terminate its collaboration with this author with immediate effect. In light of current knowledge, the necessity has arisen to review further publications by the same author in addition to the one involved in above-mentioned misconduct case [4], particularly those concerning the use of hydroxyethyl starch for therapeutic purposes. Against this background, Chapter 5 ‘Human Albumin’ of the Cross-Sectional Guidelines, which in its recommendations repeatedly refers to Prof. Dr. J. Boldt's publications, is immediately suspended. Until publication of the revised edition, differential therapeutic decisions should not be based on the treatment recommendations contained in this chapter. This suspension has become necessary since, despite an extensive process of consensus building on the Cross-Sectional Guidelines among the members of the Permanent Working Group and the plenum of the Scientific Advisory Board as well as consultation with more than 80 scientific associations, the possibility cannot be ruled out with sufficient certainty that collaboration with and the publications of this co-author have influenced the contents of the recommendations in a potentially inappropriate manner. The early revision and updating of Chapter 5 of the Cross-Sectional Guidelines by a working group of the Scientific Advisory Board has been initiated. As before, the revision process will comprise extensive consultation with relevant experts and specialist institutions.
Antisocial behaviour: An examination of individual, family, and neighbourhood factors

The present research is the first of its kind in Australia to simultaneously examine individual, family and neighbourhood predictors of adolescent antisocial behaviour. The study draws on two key data sources—Australian Bureau of Statistics census data and the Mater University Study of Pregnancy (MUSP). The MUSP is a prospective longitudinal study of mothers and their children in Brisbane, Australia; the current project draws on data from birth through to adolescence (age 14 years). The study found that less than one percent of variation in antisocial behaviour was attributable to the statistical local area (SLA). Subsequent models of both SLA-level variables (neighbourhood disadvantage, immigration concentration and residential mobility) and individual and familial variables, showed that the strongest predictors of adolescent antisocial behaviour are those which measure disruptions in parenting processes, poor school performance and early childhood aggression. The findings suggest that programs that aim to enhance parenting practices, including improving communication, supervision and monitoring of children, are important in reducing adolescent antisocial behaviour.
A Lasting Vulnerability to Psychosis in Patients with Previous Methamphetamine Psychosis

Chronic MAP abuse may produce a lasting vulnerability of the brain which leads to a paranoid delusional psychosis with hallucinations similar to schizophrenia. This view is based on the clinical observations that duration of the psychotic episodes could last quite long after excretion of MAP in the urine, and that reuse of MAP, alcohol ingestion and nonspecific psychological stressors lead to acute recurrence of psychotic episodes whose clinical features are almost identical to the initial episode in patients with prior MAP psychosis. The experimental studies indicate that a lasting change at the nerve terminal membranes, namely transporters of MAP and dopamine at the uptake sites, in the striatum and nucleus accumbens may be a cause for induction and expression of stimulant-induced sensitization, which may relate to vulnerability to schizophrenia-like psychotic episodes in MAP psychosis.
Control of emitted light polarization in a 1310 nm dilute nitride spin-vertical cavity surface emitting laser subject to circularly polarized optical injection

We experimentally demonstrate the control of the light polarization emitted by a 1310 nm dilute nitride spin-Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser (VCSEL) at room temperature. This is achieved by means of a combination of polarized optical pumping and polarized optical injection. Without external injection, the polarization of the optical pump controls that of the spin-VCSEL. However, the addition of the externally injected signal polarized with either left- (LCP) or right-circular polarization (RCP) is able to control the polarization of the spin-VCSEL switching it at will to left- or right-circular polarization. A numerical model has been developed showing a very high degree of agreement with the experimental findings.
Constraint-based object recognition in multisensor systems

A general procedure to compute and validate geometric constraints between uncertain geometric features is presented. Uncertain geometric information is represented using the symmetries and perturbation model. The procedure obtains the geometric relations between any pair of geometric elements in a systematic way, with an explicit consideration of the uncertainty due to the use of different sensors. It is shown how to use information regarding geometric relations, not only in the validation of hypotheses during the recognition process, but also for the selection of observations that allow the determination of the object location. <<ETX>>
Equation of state and transport properties of an interacting multispecies plasma: Application to a multiply ionized Al plasma.

We present a first principles theory of the ionization equilibrium, thermodynamics, and linear transport properties of an interacting mixture of electrons and several species of ions and neutrals, which are typical of a hot plasma. The thermodynamic functions are self-consistently calculated using the density functional theory (DFT). The inputs are the nuclear charge Z, the average electron density n\ifmmode\bar\else\textasciimacron\fi{}, the temperature T, and the configurations of the ions and neutrals atoms to be considered. Ion-electron pseudopotentials and ion-ion pair potentials (including repulsive core contributions) are derived from the DFT. The ionic structure factors are determined using the multicomponent hypernetted chain theory. The ion-species concentrations ${\mathit{x}}_{\mathit{i}}$ are obtained through a minimization of the total free-energy F at constant volume and temperature. The average ionization ${\mathit{Z}}^{\mathrm{*}}$, the internal energy, the pressure, and the resistivity are computed. The method is illustrated by applications to aluminum plasma. In the calculations for expanded Al at T=1.5 eV we find a low-electron-density range where two solutions are obtained for a given average atomic volume; the most stable has the highest ionization. The unstable solution has an excitation energy that can reach 2.5 eV. At a higher density, the results imply a plasma phase transition from a state with average ionization ${\mathit{Z}}^{\mathrm{*}}$=1.2 to a state with ${\mathit{Z}}^{\mathrm{*}}$=3. We also provide calculations for a variety of expanded, compressed, and shocked plasmas, which are of current theoretical and experimental interest.
Straight-Forward Versus Anatomic Trajectory Technique of Thoracic Pedicle Screw Fixation: A Biomechanical Analysis

Study Design. A biomechanical study on cadaveric thoracic vertebrae using pullout strength, insertional torque, and bone mineral density to determine the optimal sagittal trajectory of thoracic pedicle screws. Objective. To perform a biomechanical study on cadaveric thoracic vertebrae using insertional torque, pullout strength, and bone mineral density to determine the optimal biomechanical sagittal trajectory for placement thoracic pedicle screws. We compared the straight-forward (paralleling the vertebral endplate) with anatomic trajectory (directed along the true anatomic axis of the pedicle). Methods. Thirty cadaveric thoracic vertebrae were harvested and evaluated with dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry to assess bone mineral density. Matched, fixed-head pedicle screws were then randomly assigned by side and placed using the straight-forward or anatomic technique under fluoroscopic visualization while recording the maximum insertional torque. Pullout strength testing was then performed. Results. The maximum insertional torque for the straight-forward technique was 2.58 ± 0.14 (SE) in pounds, whereas the anatomic technique averaged 1.86 ± 0.14 (SE) in pounds (P = 0.0005). The maximum insertional torque at the neurocentral junction for the straight-forward technique averaged 1.89 ± 0.17 (SE) in-lbs. (73% of maximum insertional torque), whereas the anatomic trajectory averaged 1.39 ± 0.11 (SE) in pounds (75% of maximum insertional torque) (P = 0.007). The average pullout strength using a straight-forward trajectory was 611 ± 50 (SE) N compared to the anatomic trajectory, which averaged 481 ± 54 (SE) N (P = 0.034). The pullout strength correlated with mean bone mineral density for both the straight-forward (r = 0.461, P = 0.027) and anatomic (r = 0.598, P = 0.004) techniques. Conclusions. The straight-forward technique results in a 39% increase in maximum insertional torque and a 27% increase in pullout strength compared to the anatomic technique. The maximum insertional torque at the neurocentral junction resulted in a 36% increase using the straight-forward technique versus the anatomic trajectory. Bone mineral density directly correlates with pullout strength for both techniques.
Tissue scaffold surface patterning for clinical applications

Patterned scaffold surfaces provide a platform for highly defined cellular interactions, and have recently taken precedence in tissue engineering. Despite advances in patterning techniques and improved tissue growth, no clinical studies have been conducted for implantation of patterned biomaterials. Four major clinical application fields where patterned materials hold great promise are antimicrobial surfaces, cardiac constructs, neurite outgrowth, and stem cell differentiation. Specific examples include applications of patterned materials to (i) counter infection by antibiotic resistant bacteria, (ii) establish proper alignment and contractile force of regrown cardiac cells for repairing tissue damaged by cardiac infarction, (iii) increase neurite outgrowth for central nervous system wound repair, and (iv) host differentiated stem cells while preventing reversion to a pluripotent state. Moreover, patterned materials offer unique advantages for artificial implants which other constructs cannot. For example, by inducing selective cell adhesion using topographical cues, patterned surfaces present cellular orientation signals that lead to functional tissue architectures. Mechanical stimuli such as modulus, tension, and material roughness are known to influence tissue growth, as are chemical stimuli for cell adhesion. Scaffold surface patterns allow for control of these mechanical and chemical factors. This review identifies research advances in scaffold surface patterning, in light of pressing clinical needs requiring organization of cellular interactions.
Biologia Plantarum Xx (x): Xxx-xxx, 20xx Transcriptional Properties of Eight Synthetic Pathogen-inducible Promoters in Transgenic Arabidopsis Thaliana

Synthetic pathogen-inducible promoters (SPIP) hold great promise to meet the demands for desired temporal and spatial regulation of transgenes. Four pathogen-inducible cis-elements (F-box, S-box, Gst1-box and W-box) and the minimal cauliflower mosaic virus 35S (CaMV 35S) promoter (-46 to +8 TATA box) were used to design SPIP. to the order of cis-element dimers. They were used to replace the CaMV 35S promoter in the plasmid pBI121 to control the expression of the gus gene. The transcriptional properties of each SPIP were evaluated in homozygous T 3 lines of transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana by histochemical staining of gus expression and real time quantitative PCR. FSGW and FSWG had very low basal level and poor inducibility. The other six SPIP showed different levels of background and inducibility. Using Ralstonia solanacearum, the spores of Phytophthora capsici and salicylic acid as inducing factors, GWSF showed the advantages of low basal expression, rapid response, and efficient transcriptional activity in the rosette leaves of 5-week-old plants. The results indicated that the permutation and combination of cis-elements have important effects on the transcriptional activities of SPIP. SPIP like GWSF are valuable because it can potentially be further improved to appy to plant genetic engineering for disease resistance.  Precise control of transgene expression is pivotal to the plant genetic engineering for disease resistance. Pathogen-inducible promoters are important tools to achieve the desired temporal and spatial regulation of the transgenes. The ideal pathogen-inducible promoters must meet the demands of low background expression, a wide range of inducing pathogens, rapid responses and efficient transcriptional activities (Gurr and Rushton 2005). However, few native promoters show all the advantages. Synthetic pathogen-inducible promoters (SPIP) may prove valuable in engineering of plants with increased pathogen resistance (Niemeyer et al. 2014). There are many factors that affect transcriptional activities of SPIP such as motif functionality, copy number, combinatorial relationships, space to TATA-box and location relative to their regulatory targets and so on (Zou et al. 2011). Studies of stringent transcriptional regulation of pathogen-inducible genes have identified many inducible promoters and cis-elements (Roberts et al. 2013, Lehmeyer et al. 2016). These cis-elements, which are the binding sites for transcription factors, are conserved among plant species, enabling them to be used efficiently in synthetic inducible promoters in heterologous expression systems (Venter 2007). Four cis-elements with pathogen-inducible expression function, including F-box (Heise et al. 2002, 5'-TTGTCAATGTCATTAAATTCAAACATTCAAC GGTCAATT-3'), S-box (Kirsch et al. 2000, 
Rapid 3D Modeling and Parts Recognition on Automotive Vehicles Using a Network of RGB-D Sensors for Robot Guidance

This paper presents an approach for the automatic detection and fast 3D profiling of lateral body panels of vehicles. The work introduces a method to integrate raw streams from depth sensors in the task of 3D profiling and reconstruction and a methodology for the extrinsic calibration of a network of Kinect sensors. This sensing framework is intended for rapidly providing a robot with enough spatial information to interact with automobile panels using various tools. When a vehicle is positioned inside the defined scanning area, a collection of reference parts on the bodywork are automatically recognized from a mosaic of color images collected by a network of Kinect sensors distributed around the vehicle and a global frame of reference is set up. Sections of the depth information on one side of the vehicle are then collected, aligned, and merged into a global RGB-D model. Finally, a 3D triangular mesh modelling the body panels of the vehicle is automatically built. The approach has applications in the intelligent transportation industry, automated vehicle inspection, quality control, automatic car wash systems, automotive production lines, and scan alignment and interpretation.
Characterization of a Novel Data Glove Based on Textile Integrated Sensors

The present work is about the realization and the characterization of a novel data glove able to detect hand kinematic configurations. The sensing glove has been realized by directly integrate sensors in the fabric used to manufacture the glove. Main specifications for the realized device are lightness, wearability and user comfort. As a fundamental requirement to address this purpose we have estimated the employment of a material which does not substantially change the mechanical properties of the fabric and maintains the wearability of the garment. To obtain this result, we have integrated sensor networks made by conductive elastomer into an elastic fabric used to manufacture the sensing glove. Electrically conductive elastomer composites show piezoresistive properties when a deformation is applied. Conductive elastomers materials can be applied to fabric or to other flexible substrate and they can be employed as strain sensors. To validate the realized device, a function that relates glove sensor values to hand motion has been realized and tested
Inheritance in Natural Language Processing

In this introduction to the special issues, we begin by outlining a concrete example that indicates some of the motivations leading to the widespread use of inheritance networks in computational linguistics. This example allows us to illustrate some of the formal choices that have to be made by those who seek network solutions to natural language processing (NLP) problems. We provide some pointers into the extensive body of AI knowledge representation publications that have been concerned with the theory of inheritance over the last dozen years or so. We go on to identify the three rather separate traditions that have led to the current work in NLP. We then provide a fairly comprehensive literature survey of the use that computational linguists have made of inheritance networks over the last two decades, organized by reference to levels of linguistic description. In the course of this survey, we draw the reader's attention to each of the papers in these issues of Computational Linguistics and set them in the context of related work.
The Contribution of TRPV4-Mediated Calcium Signaling to Calcium Homeostasis in Endothelial Cells

A large variety of cation transport systems are involved in the regulation of calcium homeostasis in endothelial cells. The focus of the present study is to determine the contribution of nonselective cation channels from the TRP (transient receptor potential) family to cellular calcium homeostasis of porcine aortic endothelial cells (PAEC). One member of the TRPV (vanniloid) subfamily, TRPV4, has previously been shown to be involved in cation transport induced by a large variety of stimulations including osmolarity, temperature, mechanical stress, and phosphorylation. Here, we demonstrate the existence of several TRP proteins, including TRPV4, in PAEC using RT-PCR. To test whether this channel is functional, we performed FURA-2 calcium measurements and whole-cell patch-clamp experiments. We observed the induction of large calcium signals following mechanical stress, altered extracellular temperature, and the selective TRPV4 activator 4-α -PDD. These effects were diminished in the presence of the TRPV4 inhibitor miconazole, suggesting the involvement of this channel in mediating endothelial calcium signals. The large amounts of transported calcium and the short signaling ways suggest a potentially important role of this channel in many physiological processes.