Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Technical Note - Optimal Control of an Assembly System with Multiple Stages and Multiple Demand Classes

We consider an assembly system with multiple stages, multiple items, and multiple customer classes. The system consists of m production facilities, each producing a different item. Items are produced in variable batch sizes, one batch at a time, with exponentially distributed batch production times. Demand from each class takes place continuously over time according to a compound Poisson process. At each decision epoch, we must determine whether or not to produce an item and, should demand from a particular class arise, whether or not to satisfy it from existing inventory, if any is available. We formulate the problem as a Markov decision process and use it to characterize the structure of the optimal policy. In contrast to systems with exogenous and deterministic production lead times, we show that the optimal production policy for each item is a state-dependent base-stock policy with the base-stock level nonincreasing in the inventory level of items that are downstream and nondecreasing in the inventory level of all other items. For inventory allocation, we show that the optimal policy is a multilevel state-dependent rationing policy with the rationing level for each demand class nonincreasing in the inventory level of all nonend items. We also show how the optimal control problem can be reformulated in terms of echelon inventory and how the essential features of the optimal policy can be reinterpreted in terms of echelon inventory.
Detection of Cardiovascular Disease Risk's Level for Adults Using Naive Bayes Classifier

Objectives The number of deaths caused by cardiovascular disease and stroke is predicted to reach 23.3 million in 2030. As a contribution to support prevention of this phenomenon, this paper proposes a mining model using a naïve Bayes classifier that could detect cardiovascular disease and identify its risk level for adults. Methods The process of designing the method began by identifying the knowledge related to the cardiovascular disease profile and the level of cardiovascular disease risk factors for adults based on the medical record, and designing a mining technique model using a naïve Bayes classifier. Evaluation of this research employed two methods: accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity calculation as well as an evaluation session with cardiologists and internists. The characteristics of cardiovascular disease are identified by its primary risk factors. Those factors are diabetes mellitus, the level of lipids in the blood, coronary artery function, and kidney function. Class labels were assigned according to the values of these factors: risk level 1, risk level 2 and risk level 3. Results The evaluation of the classifier performance (accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity) in this research showed that the proposed model predicted the class label of tuples correctly (above 80%). More than eighty percent of respondents (including cardiologists and internists) who participated in the evaluation session agree till strongly agreed that this research followed medical procedures and that the result can support medical analysis related to cardiovascular disease. Conclusions The research showed that the proposed model achieves good performance for risk level detection of cardiovascular disease.
Dempster-Shafer's Evidence Theory-based Edge Detection

Edges represent significant boundary information between objects or classes. Various methods, which are based on differential operation, such as Sobel, Prewitt, Roberts, Canny, and etc. have been proposed and widely used. The methods are based on a linear convolution of mask with pre-assigned coefficients. In this paper, we propose an edge detection method based on Dempster-Shafer's evidence theory to evaluate edgeness of the given pixel. The effectiveness of the proposed method is shown through experimental results on several test images and compared with conventional methods.
Evaluation of bond strength of human dentin subjected to different forms of storage

Introduction and objective: Human teeth are frequently used in laboratory and research activities. The aim of this study was to evaluate the bond strength of human dentin subjected to different forms of storage. Material and methods: Fifteen intact third molars were selected and divided into three experimental groups (n = 5): 1) teeth sterilized by autoclave for 15 minutes (121°C) and frozen in distilled water for 60 days; 2) teeth immersed in 2% glutaraldehyde solution for 24 hours and frozen in distilled water for 60 days; 3) only frozen in distilled water for 60 days (control). Samples were prepared with a diamond disk under cooling until obtaining flat surfaces of middle dentin, which were exposed by wet abrasion with 600-grit SiC paper in order to create smear layer prior to hybridization. The conventional adhesive system Adper Single Bond 2 and the composite Filtek Z250 (3M Espe) were used according to manufacturer’s instructions. Tygon tubing molds were placed on each sample and its internal volume was filled with the composite. After photoactivation, the molds were removed and the specimens were exposed and stored in distilled water at 37°C for 24 hours before microshear bond strength test. Results: The bond strength was calculated in MPa±SD, and data were statistically analyzed by Anova and Tukey test at 5% significance level. Data showed that the control group presented bond strength statistically higher than the other experimental groups. Conclusion: The autoclaving and immersion in glutaraldehyde solution reduced significantly the bond strength in human dentin when compared to frozen teeth in distilled water.
Low noise amplifier for integrated angular acceleration sensor

This paper presents a two stage low noise chopper amplifier for integrated angular acceleration sensor signal processing circuit which consists of amplifiers, phase-locked loop and automatic gain control. Capacitor feedback amplifier circuit is one of the most suitable for CMOS technology however capacitor amplifier with chopped op-amp has poor low frequency performance because of parasitic resistive coupling between inputs of the op-amp. In presented amplifier modulators are placed outside capacitive feedback which improves noise and gain performance. Proper gain distribution between stages contributes to minimizing output noise and phase shift. Chopper ripple is of no concern because of low pass filters in phase-locked loop in signal processing circuit. Proposed circuit is designed in 0.18 CMOS technology. The chopper amplifier consumes 1.75 mA current. Input referred noise voltage at 15 kHz is 8.2 nV/√Hz, gain of the amplifier is 53 dB while the phase shift is 0.6°.
Results of Free Flap Reconstruction After Ablative Surgery in the Head and Neck

Objectives Due to the complex anatomy and function of the head and neck region, the reconstruction of ablative defects in this area is challenging. In addition, an increasing interest in improving the quality of life of patients and achieving good functional results has highlighted the importance of free flaps. The aim of this study was to summarize the results of free flap reconstruction and salvage of free flaps in a single institute, and to analyze differences in the results by the flap donor site, recipient site, and learning curve. Methods The medical records of patients who underwent free flap reconstruction from 2004-2012 were reviewed retrospectively. One hundred and fifty free flaps were used in 134 patients, who had an average age of 57.7 years. The types of flaps applied, primary defect sites, success rates, results of salvage operations for compromised flap, and the learning curve were analyzed. Results The anterolateral thigh flap was preferred for the reconstruction of head and neck defects. The overall success rate was 90.7%, with 14 cases of failure. A total of 19 salvage operations (12.7%) for compromised flap were performed, and 12 flaps (63.2%) were salvaged successfully. Dependency on the facial vessels as recipient vessels was statistically different when oral and oropharyngeal defects were compared to hypopharyngeal and laryngeal defects. The learning curve for microvascular surgery showed decrease in the failure rate after 50 cases. Conclusion The free flap technique is safe but involves a significant learning period and requires careful postoperative monitoring of the patient. Early intervention is important for the salvage of free flaps and for lowering the failure rate.
Visual localization in highly crowded urban environments

Visual localization in crowded dynamic environments requires information about static and dynamic objects. This paper presents a robust method that learns the useful features from multiple runs in highly crowded urban environments. Useful features are identified as distinctive ones that are also reliable to extract in diverse imaging conditions. Relative importance of features is used to derive the weight for each feature. The popular Bag-of-words model is used for image retrieval and localization, where query image is the current view of the environment and database contains the visual experience from previous runs. Based on the reliability, features are augmented and eliminated over runs. This reduces the size of representation, and makes it more reliable in crowded scenes. We tested the proposed method on data sets collected from highly crowded Indian urban outdoor settings. Experiments have shown that with the help of a small subset (10%) of the detected features, we can reliably localize the camera. We achieve superior results in terms of localization accuracy even when more than 90% of the pixels are occluded or dynamic.
High speed imaging with time domain terahertz

Time domain terahertz (TD-THz) imaging can provide a large amount of information about the item being imaged. By processing the reflected pulse, spectroscopic and internal structural information can be generated. The problem has always been the speed. Recent advances allow images to be collected in seconds, rather than hours.
Convex Boundary Angle-Based Flattening

Angle Based Flattening is a robust parameterization method that finds a quasi-conformal mapping by solving a non-linear optimization problem. We take advantage of a characterization of convex planar drawings of triconnected graphs to introduce new boundary constraints. This prevents boundary intersections and avoids post-processing of the parameterized mesh. We present a simple transformation to effectively relax the constrained minimization problem, which improves the convergence of the optimization method. As a natural extension, we discuss the construction of Delaunay flat meshes. This may further enhance the quality of the resulting parameterization.
The influence of mating system, demography, parasites and colonization on the population structure of Biomphalaria pfeifferi in Madagascar

Current evolutionary forces and historical processes interact to shape the distribution of neutral genetic variability within and among populations. Focusing on the genetics of recently introduced organisms offers a good opportunity to understand the relative importance of these factors. This study concerns variation at 8 polymorphic microsatellite loci in 30 populations of Biomphalaria pfeifferi. The sampling area spans most of the species’ range in Madagascar where it was probably introduced recently. Extremely low variation was found within all populations studied, which may partly result from high selfing rates. However, this cannot account for the variance of variation across populations, which is better explained by habitat openness (that reflects environmental stochasticity), the prevalence of the parasitic trematode Schistosoma mansoni and historical demography (colonization and subsequent bottlenecks). Large global differentiation was also observed, suggesting that current gene flow among populations is limited to small distances, within watersheds and to few individuals. Our data set also allowed us to test several hypotheses regarding colonization, based on bottleneck and admixture tests. The observed pattern requires at least two independent introductions from slightly differentiated genetic sources in the western part of Madagascar. Another introduction, from a very different genetic origin, should also be postulated to explain the genetic composition of eastern populations. That this introduction occurred recently suggests that the colonization of Madagascar by B. pfeifferi is an ongoing process.
Syndecan-1 Enhances Proliferation, Migration and Metastasis of HT-1080 Cells in Cooperation with Syndecan-2

Syndecans are transmembrane heparan sulphate proteoglycans. Their role in the development of the malignant phenotype is ambiguous and depends upon the particular type of cancer. Nevertheless, syndecans are promising targets in cancer therapy, and it is important to elucidate the mechanisms controlling their various cellular effects. According to earlier studies, both syndecan-1 and syndecan-2 promote malignancy of HT-1080 human fibrosarcoma cells, by increasing the proliferation rate and the metastatic potential and migratory ability, respectively. To better understand their tumour promoter role in this cell line, syndecan expression levels were modulated in HT-1080 cells and the growth rate, chemotaxis and invasion capacity were studied. For in vivo testing, syndecan-1 overexpressing cells were also inoculated into mice. Overexpression of full length or truncated syndecan-1 lacking the entire ectodomain but containing the four juxtamembrane amino acids promoted proliferation and chemotaxis. These effects were accompanied by a marked increase in syndecan-2 protein expression. The pro-migratory and pro-proliferative effects of truncated syndecan-1 were not observable when syndecan-2 was silenced. Antisense silencing of syndecan-2, but not that of syndecan-1, inhibited cell migration. In vivo, both full length and truncated syndecan-1 increased tumour growth and metastatic rate. Based on our in vitro results, we conclude that the tumour promoter role of syndecan-1 observed in HT-1080 cells is independent of its ectodomain; however, in vivo the presence of the ectodomain further increases tumour proliferation. The enhanced migratory ability induced by syndecan-1 overexpression is mediated by syndecan-2. Overexpression of syndecan-1 also leads to activation of IGF1R and increased expression of Ets-1. These changes were not evident when syndecan-2 was overexpressed. These findings suggest the involvement of IGF1R and Ets-1 in the induction of syndecan-2 synthesis and stimulation of proliferation by syndecan-1. This is the first report demonstrating that syndecan-1 enhances malignancy of a mesenchymal tumour cell line, via induction of syndecan-2 expression.
Porcn-dependent Wnt signaling is not required prior to mouse gastrulation

In mice and humans the X-chromosomal porcupine homolog (Porcn) gene is required for the acylation and secretion of all 19 Wnt ligands and thus represents a bottleneck for all Wnt signaling. We have generated a mouse line carrying a floxed allele for Porcn and used zygotic, oocyte-specific and visceral endoderm-specific deletions to investigate embryonic and extra-embryonic requirements for Wnt ligand secretion. We show that there is no requirement for Porcn-dependent secretion of Wnt ligands during preimplantation development of the mouse embryo. Porcn-dependent Wnts are first required for the initiation of gastrulation, where Porcn function is required in the epiblast but not the visceral endoderm. Heterozygous female embryos, which are mutant in both trophoblast and visceral endoderm due to imprinted X chromosome inactivation, complete gastrulation but display chorio-allantoic fusion defects similar to Wnt7b mutants. Our studies highlight the importance of Wnt3 and Wnt7b for embryonic and placental development but suggest that endogenous Porcn-dependent Wnt secretion does not play an essential role in either implantation or blastocyst lineage specification.
Imaging in neurooncology

SummaryImaging in patients with brain tumors aims toward the determination of the localization, extend, type, and malignancy of the tumor. Imaging is being used for primary diagnosis, planning of treatment including placement of stereotaxic biopsy, resection, radiation, guided application of experimental therapeutics, and delineation of tumor from functionally important neuronal tissue. After treatment, imaging is being used to quantify the treatment response and the extent of residual tumor. At follow-up, imaging helps to determine tumor progression and to differentiate recurrent tumor growth from treatment-induced tissue changes, such as radiation necrosis. A variety of complementary imaging methods are currently being used to obtain all the information necessary to achieve the abovementioned goals. Computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) reveal mostly anatomical information on the tumor, whereas magnetic resonance spectroscopy and positron emission tomography (PET) give important information on the metabolic state and molecular events within the tumor. Functional MRI and functional PET, in combination with electrophysiological methods like transcranial magnetic stimulation, are being used to delineate functionally important neuronal tissue, which has to be preserved from treatment-induced damage, as well as to gather information on tumor-induced brain plasticity. In addition, optical imaging devices have been implemented in the past few years for the development of new therapeutics, especially in experimental glioma models. In summary, imaging in patients with brain tumors plays a central role in the management of the disease and in the development of improved imaging-guided therapies.
Modulating Diseased Skin with Tissue Engineering: Actinic Purpura Treated with Apligraf

BACKGROUND Actinic purpura (AP) is an important medical issue and quality of life issue in the elderly. Current treatment of AP is limited to prevention of cutaneous aging. OBJECTIVE To assess the utility of tissue engineered skin (Apligraf, Organogenesis, Canton, MA) as a tissue modulator in diseased skin and as treatment for AP. METHODS A thin partial-thickness section of AP was removed from the forearm of an elderly gentleman and replaced with fenestrated Apligraf. Healing, durability and cosmetic outcome were assessed. RESULTS Apligraf-treated skin healed rapidly with good clinical “take. ” Lack of new skin tears and resultant erosions or ulcer formation suggests improved durability of the Apligraf-treated area occurred. CONCLUSION These results suggest that tissue engineered skin modulates aged dermal tissue to behave in a more sturdy fashion. Furthermore, in selected cases Apligraf may represent a treatment option for AP.
A partial memory protection scheme for higher effective yield of embedded memory for video data

With the emerging SoC era the on-chip embedded memory will occupy most of the silicon real estate. As the technology proceeds into very deep submicron, the yield of SoCs will drop sharply mainly because of the on-chip memory failure. Therefore, the embedded memory is becoming the crucial part for achieving higher chip yield. In this paper, we propose an error-resilient video data memory system architecture design. The proposed scheme employs partial memory protection scheme rather than traditional whole memory protection. Our approach is based on the fact that video data memory need not to be error-free because multimedia data has built-in redundancies by their own nature and allows partial data loss without serious quality degradation. With our approach we can achieve 100% data memory yield while incurring a small power overhead. We demonstrate the efficiency of our approach with H.264 application up to 2.0% memory bit error.
Auctions on networks: Efficiency, consensus, passivity, rates of convergence

First, a quantized progressive second price (PSP) auction mechanism called the Unique Limit Quantized - PSP (UQ-PSP) is presented for the allocation of fixed or timevarying quantities of a resource among arbitrary populations of agents. It is shown that (i) the states (i.e. bid prices and quantities) of the corresponding iterative dynamical auction system converge to a unique quantized (Nash) equilibrium with a common limit price for all agents, (ii) the limit price of all system trajectories is independent of the initial data, and (iii) modulo the quantization level, the limiting resource allocation is efficient, that is to say the corresponding social welfare function is optimized. Second, distributed auctions on a twolevel network are developed: each vertex in the higher level network is regarded as a supplier for a uniquely associated lower level network; each such lower level network consists of a set of agents which represent buyers; and each of the lower level networks and their associated suppliers is assumed to constitute a local UQ-PSP auction Aα. The adjustment of the quantities supplied to any Aα is via a consensus-based dynamical system which exchanges quantities depending upon the limit prices of the local auctions in the (nearest neighbour) neighborhood of Aα in the higher level network. Convergence is established using a passivity property of UQ-PSP auctions and the system properties on those networks which are scale free random graphs are investigated.
A graph-based approach to systematically reconstruct human transcriptional regulatory modules

MOTIVATION A major challenge in studying gene regulation is to systematically reconstruct transcription regulatory modules, which are defined as sets of genes that are regulated by a common set of transcription factors. A commonly used approach for transcription module reconstruction is to derive coexpression clusters from a microarray dataset. However, such results often contain false positives because genes from many transcription modules may be simultaneously perturbed upon a given type of conditions. In this study, we propose and validate that genes, which form a coexpression cluster in multiple microarray datasets across diverse conditions, are more likely to form a transcription module. However, identifying genes coexpressed in a subset of many microarray datasets is not a trivial computational problem. RESULTS We propose a graph-based data-mining approach to efficiently and systematically identify frequent coexpression clusters. Given m microarray datasets, we model each microarray dataset as a coexpression graph, and search for vertex sets which are frequently densely connected across [theta m] datasets (0 < or = theta < or = 1). For this novel graph-mining problem, we designed two techniques to narrow down the search space: (1) partition the input graphs into (overlapping) groups sharing common properties; (2) summarize the vertex neighbor information from the partitioned datasets onto the 'Neighbor Association Summary Graph's for effective mining. We applied our method to 105 human microarray datasets, and identified a large number of potential transcription modules, activated under different subsets of conditions. Validation by ChIP-chip data demonstrated that the likelihood of a coexpression cluster being a transcription module increases significantly with its recurrence. Our method opens a new way to exploit the vast amount of existing microarray data accumulation for gene regulation study. Furthermore, the algorithm is applicable to other biological networks for approximate network module mining. AVAILABILITY http://zhoulab.usc. edu/NeMo/.
Variable Metric Method for Minimization

This is a method for determining numerically local minima of differentiable functions of several variables. In the process of locating each minimum, a matrix which characterizes the behavior of the function about the minimum is determined. For a region in which the function depends quadratically on the variables, no more than N iterations are required, where N is the number of variables. By suitable choice of starting values, and without modification of the procedure, linear constraints can be imposed upon the variables.