Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A two-class brain computer interface to freely navigate through virtual worlds / Ein Zwei-Klassen-Brain-Computer-Interface zur freien Navigation durch virtuelle Welten

Abstract A brain computer interface that enables navigation through a virtual environment (VE) using four different navigation commands (turn right, turn left, move forward and move back) is presented. A graphical interface allows subjects to select a specific command. In this interface, the different navigation commands are surrounding a circle. A bar in the center of the circle is continuously rotating. The subject controls, by only two mental tasks, the bar extension to reach the chosen command. In this study, after an initial training based on three sessions, 8 out of 15 naive subjects were able to navigate through the VE discriminating between imagination of right-hand movements and relaxed state. All subjects (except one) improved their performance in each run and a mean error rate of 23.75% was obtained. Zusammenfassung Ein Brain-Computer-Interface, das die Navigation durch eine virtuelle Umwelt ermöglicht und dabei vier verschiedene Navigationskommandos (rechts drehen, links drehen, vorwärts oder rückwärts bewegen) benutzt, wird präsentiert. Ein grafisches Interface erlaubt den Probanden, spezifische Kommandos auszuwählen. In diesem Interface sind die verschiedenen Navigationskommandos auf einem Kreis dargestellt. Ein Strich rotiert ständig in der Mitte des Kreises. Der Proband kontrolliert mit nur zwei Denkzielen den Strich in der Weise, dass er das gewünschte Kommando erreicht. Nach einem Eingangstraining von drei Sitzungen waren acht von fünfzehn unbefangenen Personen in der Lage, durch das virtuelle Umfeld zu navigieren, indem sie zwischen rechtshändigen Bewegungen und Ruhestadium unterschieden. Mit Ausnahme eines Probanden verbesserten alle ihre Ergebnisse bei jedem Durchgang, und eine durchschnittliche Fehlerquote von 23.75% wurde erreicht.
Instability of the vertical annular flow with a radial heating and rotating inner cylinder

A linear stability analysis of the flow confined in a differentially rotating cylindrical annulus with a radial temperature gradient has been performed. Depending on values of control parameters (the Taylor number, the Grashof number, and the Froude number), it has shown flow destabilization to axisymmetric or non-axisymmetric modes. Analysis of different terms involved in the evolution rate of the perturbation kinetic energy has allowed us to isolate the dominant terms (centrifugal force or buoyancy force) in the destabilization process. We have shown that the centrifugal buoyancy can induce the asymmetry of the temperature gradient on critical states.
Spatially heterogeneous diapycnal mixing in the abyssal ocean: A comparison of two parameterizations to observations

[1] The spatial distributions of the diapycnal diffusivity predicted by two abyssal mixing schemes are compared to each other and to observational estimates based on microstructure surveys and large-scale hydrographic inversions. The parameterizations considered are the tidal mixing scheme by Jayne, St. Laurent and co-authors (JSL01) and the Roughness Diffusivity Model (RDM) by Decloedt and Luther. Comparison to microstructure surveys shows that both parameterizations are conservative in estimating the vertical extent to which bottom-intensified mixing penetrates into the stratified water column. In particular, the JSL01 exponential vertical structure function with fixed scale height decays to background values much nearer topography than observed. JSL01 and RDM yield dramatically different horizontal spatial distributions of diapycnal diffusivity, which would lead to quite different circulations in OGCMs, yet they produce similar basin-averaged diffusivity profiles. Both parameterizations are shown to yield smaller basin-mean diffusivity profiles than hydrographic inverse estimates for the major ocean basins, by factors ranging from 3 up to over an order of magnitude. The canonical 10−4 m2 s−1abyssal diffusivity is reached by the parameterizations only at depths below 3 km. Power consumption by diapycnal mixing below 1 km of depth, between roughly 32°S and 48°N, for the RDM and JSL01 parameterizations is 0.40 TW & 0.28 TW, respectively. The results presented here suggest that present-day mixing parameterizations significantly underestimate abyssal mixing. In conjunction with other recently published studies, a plausible interpretation is that parameterizing the dissipation of bottom-generated internal waves is not sufficient to approximate the global spatial distribution of diapycnal mixing in the abyssal ocean.
Antibody to hepatitis B surface antigen trough levels and half‐lives do not differ after intravenous and intramuscular hepatitis B immunoglobulin administration after liver transplantation

Hepatitis B immunoglobulin (HBIG) administration remains an essential component of standard reinfection prophylaxis after liver transplantation for hepatitis B virus–related liver disease. Previous studies have suggested that intramuscular (IM) HBIG administration compared to intravenous (IV) HBIG administration may be cost‐effective and dose‐saving. To compare antibody against hepatitis B surface antigen (anti‐HBs) kinetics after IV HBIG administration versus IM HBIG administration, 24 patients received 2000 IU of HBIG every 6 weeks over a study period of 48 weeks in a crossover design. HBIG was started intravenously in 12 patients (group A) and intramuscularly in 12 patients (group B). After 4 doses, at week 24 HBIG administration was switched from IM to IV and vice versa. Anti‐HBs kinetics of 22 patients were evaluated. Mean anti‐HBs levels measured 2, 4, and 6 weeks after each HBIG administration did not differ significantly (480 ± 166, 319 ± 126, and 221 ± 106 IU/L after IV administration versus 457 ± 166, 310 ± 147, and 218 ± 112 IU/L after IM administration). Half‐lives of anti‐HBs decline (IV, 25.5 ± 6.0 days, versus IM, 24.7 ± 6.2 days) and area under the curve values from week 2 to 6 (IV, 9.4 ± 3.6 IU*day/mL, versus IM, 9.0 ± 3.9 IU*day/mL) also showed no significant difference. Variation of anti‐HBs levels after IV HBIG administration versus IM HBIG administration was neither significantly different within patients (intraindividual variance) nor between patients (interindividual variance). However, intraindividual variance was lower than interindividual variance after IV (P < 0.05) and IM (P < 0.05) HBIG administration at every time point (2, 4, and 6 weeks). In conclusion, IV HBIG administration and IM HBIG administration are equally effective with respect to the crucial pharmacokinetic parameters. That is, IM HBIG is not dose‐saving; however, it may be cost‐effective if the price per unit is lower. Individualized dosing intervals should be further evaluated as a cost‐effective alternative to fixed dosing schemes. Liver Transpl 14:435–442, 2008. © 2008 AASLD.
Activation of human TLR4/MD-2 by hypoacylated lipopolysaccharide from a clinical isolate of Burkholderia cenocepacia Activation of human TLR4/MD-2 by hypoacylated from a clinical isolate

Background : The Burkholderia cenocepacia lipid A is hypoacylated. Results : Aminoarabinose residues in lipid A contribute to Burkholderia lipid A binding to the TLR4/MD-2 complex. Conclusion : A novel mode of Burkholderia lipopolysaccharide-TLR4/MD-2 interactions promotes inflammation. Significance : Modifications of the lipid A structure enhance pro-inflammatory responses of hypoacylated lipopolysaccharide. ABSTRACT Lung infection by Burkholderia species, in particular B. cenocepacia , accelerates tissue damage and increase post-lung transplant mortality in cystic fibrosis patients. Host-microbes interplay largely depends on interactions between pathogen specific molecules and innate immune receptors such as the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4), which recognizes the lipid A moiety of the bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). The human TLR4/MD-2 LPS receptor complex is strongly activated by hexa-acylated lipid A and poorly activated by underacylated lipid A. Here, we report that B. cenocepacia LPS strongly activates human TLR4/MD-2 despite its lipid A having only five acyl chains. Further, we show that aminoarabinose residues in lipid A contribute to TLR4-lipid A interactions, and experiments in a mouse model of LPS-induced endotoxic shock confirmed the proinflammatory potential of B. cenocepacia penta-acylated lipid A. Molecular modeling, combined with mutagenesis of TLR4-MD2 interactive surfaces, suggests that longer acyl chains and the aminoarabinose residues in the B. cenocepacia lipid A allow exposure of the fifth acyl chain on the surface of MD-2 enabling interactions with TLR4 and its dimerization. Our results provide a molecular model for activation of the human TLR4/MD-2 complex by penta-acylated lipid A, explaining the ability of hypoacylated B. LPS to the severe pathogenicity this opportunistic
A Survey on kNNVWC : An Efficient k-Nearest Neighbors Approach Based on Various-Widths clustering

The approximate k-NN search algorithms are well-known for their high concert in high dimensional data. The locality-sensitive hashing (LSH) method, that uses a number of hash functions, is one of the most fascinating hash-based approaches. The k-nearest neighbour approaches based Various-Widths Clustering (kNNVWC) has been widely used as a prevailing non-parametric technique in many scientific and engineering applications. However, this approach incurs a huge pre-processing and the querying cost. Hence, this issue has become an active explore field. The proposed system presents a novel k-NN based Partitioning Around Medoids (KNNPAM) clustering algorithm to powerfully find k-NNs for a query object from a given data set to minimize the extend beyond among clusters; and grouping the centers of the clusters into a tree-like index to effectively trim more clusters. Experimental results demonstrate that KNNPAM perform well in finding k-NNs for query objects compared to a number of k-NN search algorithms, mainly for a banking domain and real world data set with high dimensions, various distributions and large size. The problem of quickly finding the “exact” k-NN for a query object in a large and high dimensional data set using metric reserve functions that satisfy the triangle inequality property.KD-tree: To organization the data set in a balanced binary-tree, where the data set is recursively split into two parts along one axis .
Ranking and Context-awareness in Recommender Systems

In this thesis we report the results of our research on recommender systems, which addresses some of the critical scientific challenges that still remain open in this domain. Collaborative filtering (CF) is the most common technique of predicting the interests of a user by collecting preference information from many users. In order to determine which items from a collection may be favored by individual users, conventional CF approaches take the ratings previously assigned to items by a target user and use them together with ratings of users with similar preferences to predict the ratings of yet-unseen items. Then, items are recommended in a descending order according to their predicted ratings. While CF has been investigated and improved extensively over the past years, there is still room for substantial improvement. In this thesis we focus on improvement of two critical aspects of CF, namely ranking and context-awareness of the recommendations. In addition, we analyze new developments in the field of collaborative recommendation and elaborate on the challenges related to the evolution of recommender systems and their increasing impact in the future. Based on this analysis, we make recommendations for future research directions in this field.
Wide-Band and -Range Tunable Dispersion Compensation Through Parametric Wavelength Conversion and Dispersive Optical Fibers

An intrinsically ultrafast, wide-band, and -range tunable dispersion compensation (TDC) is realized through parametric wavelength conversion in conjunction with fibers with large dispersion slope such as dispersion compensating fibers. The proposed schemes have unique potentials that they can operate with fast response in a truly colorless manner and are capable of producing two orders of magnitude larger bandwidth-dispersion product than conventional ones. After the discussions on the operating principle and design issues, a proof-of-concept experiment is performed to verify the static operations achieving a tunable dispersion range larger than plusmn280.5 ps2 for 2.47 ps optical pulses.
UML-based modeling of OPC UA address spaces for power systems

Automation technologies are a key enabler to realize the vision of so called Smart Grids. They realize the interface between the power system infrastructure that is used to reliably deliver electric power and the information- and communication infrastructure that is utilized to exchange digital information. Thus, analyzing if and how existing automation technologies can be adopted for the energy domain is of key importance. Furthermore, Smart Grids will be highly heterogeneous systems having to address various interoperability issues and thus have to deal with standardization. Therefore, this paper proposes the integration of the established IT-modeling language UML with the OPC Unified Architecture, which is a future-oriented automation standard (and already established in industry automation). It will be explained how UML-models can be used to generate Address Spaces in general and examples will be given introducing the generation of Address Spaces based on Smart Grid semantics in particular.
“Mid-G” Region Sequences of the Glycoprotein Gene of Austrian Infectious Hematopoietic Necrosis Virus Isolates Form Two Lineages within European Isolates and Are Distinct from American and Asian Lineages

ABSTRACT Infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) is one of the most important pathogens of salmonid fish. In this study a comprehensive phylogenetic analysis of the genetic evolution and variety of Austrian IHNV strains, as well as selected strains ensuring worldwide coverage, is presented. The phylogenetic investigation is based on sequences comprising the “mid-G” region of the G gene, and it includes all currently available IHNV sequences of the G gene with a length of at least 615 bp. Austrian IHNVs are located—together with other European IHNV isolates—in two clusters of genogroup M (M-Eur1 and M-Eur2) and are clearly separated from American and Asian lineages. The genetic clustering, however, could not be linked to certain clinical symptoms or significant differences in the mortality rates.
Design of the Saitama Cardiometabolic Disease and Organ Impairment Study (SCDOIS): A Multidisciplinary Observational Epidemiological Study

Background: In the past few decades, the incidence of cardiometabolic diseases and disorders of the liver, kidney, pancreas, heart, and lung, have been increasing in Western and Asian countries, including Japan. Numerous factors, including abnormal body weight (obesity, overweight, or underweight), infrequent exercise, and other unfavorable lifestyle factors (e.g., smoking and heavy alcohol drinking) have been proposed as risk factors for the development and the progression of diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia, which ultimately lead to impaired organ function and possibly death. However, the mechanisms that link these risk factors with diseases are still poorly understood, and the potential treatments, including pharmacotherapy and diet, have not been fully evaluated. Methods: In 2011, we established a new collaborative research program, the Saitama Cardiometabolic Disease and Organ Impairment Study (SCDOIS). This multidisciplinary observational epidemiological research study was designed to cover several high-profile diseases and some traditional fields of internal medicine, as well as apparently unrelated fields and particular lifestyle factors, such as unhealthy eating behaviors. In a series of studies, apparently healthy subjects who underwent a regular medical checkup were retrospectively identified based on the results of their medical checkups. In this way, the incidence, prevalence, causality, and clinical relevance of specific conditions and diseases have been investigated in cross-sectional analyses of 100,000 - 200,000 adults, and in longitudinal studies of several thousand subjects who underwent medical checkups multiple times. Discussion: This article describes the background, rationale, purpose, and methods of the SCDOIS. Using data obtained from annual medical checkups, our goals are to 1) establish criteria or identify clinical features that would enable clinicians to detect the presence of abnormal conditions associated with cardiometabolic diseases and/or organ impairment much earlier in the disease course; and 2) determine the potential mechanisms and therapies for these conditions.
Managing knowledge in a software organization

This paper explores the practical usage of insights on knowledge management (KM) to support innovation in a software organization. The organization has for some time engaged in software process improvement (SPI) initiatives to improve its operation. The paper applies two complementary approaches to KM, the codified and the personalized, to evaluate current KM practices and to improve its SPI practices. Based on the insights from the case we review key principles within SPI and evaluate the applied KM approaches. We conclude that it is advisable for SPI efforts to explicitly address KM issues. Each software organization has to find its own balance between personalized and codified approaches, this balance needs to be dynamically adjusted as the organization matures, and the adopted KM approach should differentiate between different types of SPI services.
Mechanical and Biological Effects of Plate Luting

Summary Plate luting, a technique that uses polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) interposed between the plate and the bone, as well as between the screw heads and the plate, to improve the stability of internal fixation was tested in vitro using 20 paired equine third metacarpal bones with mid-diaphyseal osteotomies plated with six-hole broad ASIF compression plates. One of each pair was luted and all specimens were tested in static overload or cyclic loading at 75% of the ultimate breaking strength using four-point bending. Although no differences were measured in static overload tests between luted and nonluted plates, a three to 12-fold increase in the number of cycles to failure was noted with the luted specimens. In vivo studies of the biological reaction to plate luting were performed in seven horses using identical plates fixed to the intact radius. One side was luted while the opposite side was plated without luting. The horses were killed at 1, 2, 6, and 15 months after surgery. Quantitative histomorphometry showed no increase in porosity under the luted plate when compared with the nonluted side.
Magnetic resonance imaging in human teeth internal space visualization for requirements of dental prosthetics

Objectives: The aim of this work has been a verification possibility to use 3D spin echo magnetic resonance imaging techniques in the dentistry within the scope of a dimensional imaging of the inner spaces of teeth during an prosthetic procedure. Methods: 6 extracted molar teeth were used after preparation for the inner root canals fixations. Magnetic resonance (MR) measurements were carried out on a 4.7 T MRI system with Maran DRX console and home built actively shielded gradient coils and rf probe head. Results: Research proceedings made it possible to compare the quality of internal tooth space after preparation for inner root canals fixations constructed using both classical methods (polymer mass impression) and non-imressional methods (MRI representation) Conclusions: A numerical model of prepared root canals obtained with the method of the magnetic resonance visualization may constitute in the future a basis for a non-impressional technique of imaging, usefull for dental prosthetics. A numerical model of the prepared root canals obtained with the method of the magnetic resonance visualization imaging combined with the method of images analysis, may in the future constitute a basis for an automatic 3D modelling of the inner root canals fixations, supported with computer applications dedicated for the designing purposes (CAD-computer aided design).
Reconstitution and Purification of Cytolethal Distending Toxin of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans

Cytolethal distending toxin (CDT) has been found in various pathogenic bacterial species and causes a cell distending and a G2 arrest against eukaryotic cells. All the cdtABC genes, which encode CDT, are known to be required for the CDT activities although the CDT holotoxin structure has not been elucidated. We cloned the cdtABC genes of Actinobacillus actinomycetemcomitans and constructed an Escherichia coli expression system for them. We found that crude extracts from six deletion mutants (ΔcdtA, ΔcdtB, ΔcdtC, ΔcdtBC, ΔcdtAC, and ΔcdtAB) of recombinant E. coli, which showed very weak or no detectable CDT activities, restored the CDT activities when pre‐mixing and pre‐incubation of them were performed in combinations to contain all the CdtA, CdtB, and CdtC proteins. These results indicate that all the Cdt proteins are required for the CDT activities. We also found that the chimera CdtB protein, CdtB‐intein‐CBD (chitin binding domain) like CdtB protein itself assembled with CdtA and CdtC. The reconstituted CDT containing the chimera CdtB protein was specifically extracted by chitin beads and the only CDT portion was isolated from the chitin beads by a cleavage reaction of the intein. The purified reconstituted‐CDT was found to consist of CdtA, CdtB, and CdtC proteins, and showed appreciable CDT activities, indicating that the CDT holotoxin structure is the CdtABC complex. To our knowledge, this is the first report succeeded in complete purification of an active CDT and may offer useful tools for elucidation of the toxic mechanism of CDT.
A Hierarchy of Cyclic Languages

We introduce a hierarchy of cyclic languages. The kth level of this hierarchy consists of all cyclic languages which are equal to some boolean combination of size k of strongly cyclic languages. We then show how this hierarchy can be characterized by chains of idempotents in monoids. Finally, we give a method to compute an optimal (in the number of terms) decomposition of a cyclic language into strongly cyclic languages.
High-temperature shear strength of solid-liquid interdiffusion (SLID) bonding: Cu-Sn, Au-Sn and Au-In

Solid-Liquid Interdiffusion (SLID) bonding is a promising bonding technique, particularly for high-temperature applications. Based on intermetallics as the bonding medium, the bonds are stable at temperatures far above the processing temperature which is in the range of normal solder temperatures. This work confirms experimentally this high-temperature stability through shear strength testing as function of temperature (room temperature to 300 °C) for three different SLID systems: Cu-Sn, Au-Sn and Au-In. All three systems remain solid within the tested temperature range, as expected, but they show remarkably different temperature dependence of mechanical strength: Au-Sn SLID bonds show strongly decreasing shear strength with temperature (but at 300 °C it is still well above the MIL-STD requirement); Cu-Sn SLID bonds show only small changes; whereas Au-In SLID bonds show increased shear strength at 300 °C, accompanied with a change in fracture mode from brittle to ductile. All three behaviours can be explained from the phase diagrams with the actual phases in use.