Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A New Structural Matching Method Based on Linear Features for High Resolution Satellite Images

Along with commercial accessibility of high resolution satellite images in recent decades, the issue of extracting accurate 3D spatial information in many fields became the centre of attention and applications related to photogrammetry and remote sensing has increased. To extract such information, the images should be geo-referenced. The procedure of georeferencing is done in four main steps of extracting some control information such as point, line or areal features, matching, transformation function estimation and finally resampling. Among different control features, the lines are more considered due to their unique characteristics such as easier procedure of automatically extracting and matching as well as abundance of linear features in satellite images especially in urban areas. To reach an automatic georeferencing procedure, it is inevitable to automate the matching step as one of the most challenging process especially in heterogonous spaces such as image and map spaces. So, in this paper, the automatic matching procedure is performed and assessed using a new structural linear feature-based matching method with no need to any initial information. This method is based on using the most inherent conceivable information of the extracted features. The purpose of this paper is to find all possible match-lines through finding the correspondence of two specific patterns. The proposed method is done in three main phases of high quality pattern selection, matching as well as the final-phase. Additionally, new concepts of mathematically-generated-lines which are produced by extension and intersection of line-segments in two spaces as well as mathematically-generated-points which are the keypoints of that lines are introduced and used to find the match-lines. In this paper, the impact of different numbers of stopping-criteria as well as one of the thresholds is studied experimentally. The results show the high potential of the proposed method to find more than 80 percentages of match-lines with 100 percentages of accuracy and reliability in a low computational time.
Electric Drive System Speed Sensor Fault-Tolerant Control of Electric Vehicle

In this paper, for the speed sensor of the electric vehicle electric drive system prone to damage, a new Fault-Tolerant control is researched. This damage will cause the car run failure or even dangerous situations. This control algorithm combined the traditional vector control system with speed sensor with a speed sensorless vector control algorithms. And the algorithm has the advantages of simple implementation and flux estimation accuracy. This paper proposes a practical method of fault detection and analyzes the process of the two control algorithms and realizes the smooth transition between the two control algorithms when the speed sensor failure. Finally, the simulation analysis and experiment result prove the validity. Copyright © 2013 IFSA.
Direct bonding SOI Wafer based MEMS cantilever resonator for trace gas sensor applicaiton

A thermal driving and piezoresistive sensing MEMS cantilever resonator has been proposed and developed to construct trace gas detection sensors. The problem of integrating vibration structure, transducers and electric elements is the main concern in the design and fabrication of the resonator. In this paper, the parameters and the configuration of the resonator are discussed, the fabrication process and the test results are presented. Finite Element Analysis (FEA) has been carried out to optimize the configuration of the resonator to obtain high sensitivity and efficiency with a uniform temperature distribution that is propitious to the function of the gas sensing material. The fabrication process is based on direct bonding silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer and inductive coupled plasma (ICP) etching technology, which conciliate the semiconductor processes and the micromaching processes, and provide precise control of the resonator parameters. The experimental test results of the fabricated resonator agreed well with the calculation and simulation results and demonstrated that the proposed resonator was qualified to construct trace gas detection sensors.
Subpopulations of CD34‐positive haemopoietic progenitors in fetal blood

Flow cytometry was used to determine the percentage and number of circulating CD34+ cells in fetal blood from 100 pregnancies at 13‐38 weeks gestation. When expressed as a percentage of the total number of lymphocytes, the proportion of CD34+ cells decreased exponentially from a mean of 11.1% (9.2 x 107/1) at 13 weeks to 1.0% (3.0 x 107/1) at 38 weeks (r = 0.751, P < 0.0001. The use of primitive fetal blood CD34+ progenitor cells for prenatal somatic gene therapy may have distinct advantages over postnatal somatic gene therapy.
Antibody responses and protection from pyelonephritis following vaccination with purified Escherichia coli PapDG protein.

PURPOSE A critical early step in the establishment of Escherichia coli pyelonephritis is bacterial attachment via the tip protein of P fimbriae. This adhesin, PapG, binds to glycolipid receptors present on vaginal and kidney epithelial surfaces. In this study we investigated the efficacy of vaccination with purified PapDG protein complex in preventing pyelonephritis caused by E. coli. MATERIALS AND METHODS Mature cynomolgus monkeys were intraperitoneally vaccinated with 100 microg purified PapDG protein. Following 3 identical boosters serum antibody titers to PapDG were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Vaccinated and unvaccinated animals were urethrally inoculated with 1 x 10 cfu of E. coli strain DS17, which was isolated from a child with acute pyelonephritis. The infection course was monitored by catheterized urine cultures, and by histological examination of the kidneys, bladder and kidney tissue culture 28 days after infection. RESULTS Intraperitoneal administration of purified PapDG vaccine resulted in the development of specific antibody responses in cynomolgus monkeys. In contrast to control monkeys, vaccinated monkeys did not show histological evidence of pyelonephritis after subsequent urethral challenge with pyelonephritogenic E. coli expressing P fimbriae. CONCLUSIONS Purified PapDG is a tractable vaccine candidate that in our small study demonstrated the ability to elicit adequate serum antibody levels to prevent E. coli mediated pyelonephritis.
PID Control Design with Exhaustive Dynamic Encoding Algorithm for Searches (eDEAS)

This paper proposes a simple but effective design method of PID control using a numerical optimization method. In order to achieve both stability and performance, gain and phase margins and performance indices of step response directly compose of the cost function. Hence, the proposed approach is a multiobjective optimization problem. The main effectiveness of this approach results from the strong capability of the used optimization method. A one- dimensional example concerning gain margin illustrates the practical applicability of the optimization method. The present approach has many degrees of freedom in controller design by only adjusting related weight constants. The attained PID controller is compared with Wang's and Ho's methods, IAE, and ISE for a high-order process, and the simulation result for various design targets shows that the proposed approach achieves desired time-domain performance with a guarantee of frequency-domain stability.
Conformation Dependent Pro-Apoptotic Activity of the Recombinant Human Prion Protein Fragment 90-231

The transition of prion protein from a mainly α-structured isoform (PrPC) to a β sheet-containing protein (PrPSc) represents a major pathogenetic mechanism in prion diseases. To study the role of PrP structural conformation in prion-dependent neurodegeneration, we analysed the neurotoxicity of PrP in α and β conformations, using a recombinant protein encompassing amino acids 90-231 of the human PrP (hPrP90-231). Using controlled thermal denaturation (S3°C, 1h) we converted hPrP90-231 in a structural isoform displaying PrPSc-related characteristics: high β sheet content, increased aggregability and a slight increase in the resistance to protease K. In virtue of these structural changes, hPrP90-231 powerfully affected the survival of SH-SY5Y cells, inducing a caspase-3 and p38- dependent apoptosis. Conversely, in the native α-helix-rich conformation, hPrP90-231 did not show significant cell toxicity. The relationship between the structural state of hPrP90-231 and its neurotoxicity was demonstrated, inducing the thermal denaturation of the peptide in the presence of Congo red that prevented both the transition of hPrP90-231 into a β-rich isoform and the acquisition of toxic properties. In conclusion, we report that the toxicity of hPrP90-231 is dependent on its three-dimensional structure, as is supposed to occur for the pathogen PrP during TSE.
Cells as biologics for cardiac repair in ischaemic heart failure

The epidemic of heart failure due to coronary artery disease is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The hallmark of this pathology is maladaptive ventricular remodelling that precipitates contractile dysfunction, and ultimately leads to the overt syndrome of congestive heart failure. The central feature in this malignant cascade is the massive loss of cardiomyocytes, followed by replacement with fibrotic scar; this ultimately leads to organ failure which is further accelerated by haemodynamic overload, inflammatory–oxidative stress, and/or impaired vascularisation. Despite continuous advances in disease management, the available medical, interventional or surgical treatments fall short of addressing the root cause of disease and are typically limited to palliative strategies mitigating disease symptomatology. The rationale for stem cell based regenerative medicine applied to the treatment of heart diseases is based on the realisation that natural self renewing processes innate to the myocardium, while sufficient to sustain normal homeostasis, fall short of salvaging heart muscle following massive injury—as in the setting of myocardial infarction.1 Accordingly, boosting the cardiac reparative capacity through supplementation of stem cell pools has been increasingly considered as a novel therapeutic approach. Indeed, it is now recognised that extracardiac (eg, bone marrow) in addition to intracardiac progenitor cells are mobilised and home to the site of the myocardial injury to participate in the compensatory healing response.1 w1 Furthermore, there is growing evidence that such cells participate in the maturation and induction of collateral vascular growth and neovasculogenesis, and may acquire phenotypic properties of neighbouring cardiac myocytes.1 These findings, propelled by recent progress in developmental biology, offer an unprecedented opportunity to achieve repair of damaged myocardium using stem cells as new therapeutic tools. Here, we focus on the current clinical experience as well needs for successful translation of the emergent field of cell based therapy from proof-of-concept …
Opening a M. Sc. in electrical engineering for non-traditional students

This paper will discuss why and how the University of Applied Sciences, Darmstadt/Germany will identify core competences of bachelor's degrees in Electronic Engineering and develop specially tailored lifelong learning programmes for non-traditional students. These programmes will enable highly qualified master craftsmen, solely educated to the level of master craftsmen, to successfully participate in the existing Master of Science in Electronic Engineering programme. Furthermore, this paper will present the initial results obtained from a pilot project group.
Bone cancers

Background. Frequency distribution data for primary bone sarcomas have long been used to provide clues to the diagnosis of bone cancers after their identification in radiographs. Age and skeletal site are often helpful, in addition to specific radiographic features, in narrowing down the probable histologic categories of bone neoplasms before biopsy.
Additive noise and channel distortion-robust parametrization tool - performance evaluation on Aurora 2 & 3

In this paper a HTK-compatible robust speech parametrization tool CtuCopy is presented. This tool allows for the usage of several additive noise suppression preprocessing techniques, nonlinear spectrum transformation, RASTA-like filtration, and direct final feature computation. The tool is general, it is easily extendible, and it may be also used for speech enhancement purposes. In the second part, parametrizations combining the extended spectral subtraction for additive noise suppression and LDA RASTA-like filtration for channel-distortion elimination with final computation of PLP cepstral coefficients are examined and evaluated on Aurora 2 & 3 and Czech SpeechDat corpora. This comparison shows specific algorithm features and the differences in their behavior on above mentioned databases. PLP cepstral coefficients with both extended spectral subtraction and LDA RASTA-like filtration seem to be good choice for noise robust parametrization.
The impact of photoperiods and melatonin on gonadal development in juvenile Turkish hamsters (Mesocricetus brandti)

Gündüz B, Stetson M.H. The impact of photoperiods and melatonin on gonadal development in juvenile Turkish hamsters (Mesocricetus brandti). J. Pineal Res. 1998; 25:193–200. © Munksgaard, Copenhagen
Reducing Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Readmissions: The Role of the Durable Medical Equipment Provider

Purpose/Objectives: Exacerbation and frequent rehospitalization in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease exacts a heavy toll on the US health care system. To address these issues, new initiatives have been proposed that are largely based on financial penalties to promote patient education and postdischarge care. However, as laudable as these goals are, improving outcomes in the chronic obstructive pulmonary disease population is more confounding than it may first appear. Chronic hypoxia, cognitive dysfunction, poor nutrition, and economic disadvantage are just a few of the challenges that require creative solutions and ongoing support. Case managers need to utilize all the potential products and services that can assist in improving outcomes for these patients. Durable medical equipment providers are often viewed as purveyors of medical equipment that offer little in the form of clinical support. However, in many cases these providers represent an overlooked resource that provides individualized, highly structured patient education and ongoing support programs. The challenge is in identifying those durable medical equipment providers that offer patients contemporary technology, and have both the resources and the commitment to provide patient support that is amenable to the goals of the hospital. This article reviews many of the confounding issues that contribute to the frequent rehospitalization of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease patients. Recommendations to improve patient education and oxygen therapy outcomes are provided along with suggestions to aid in the vetting of durable medical equipment providers. Primary Practice Setting: Acute care hospitals, long-term acute care hospitals, extended care facilities, integrated delivery systems. Implications for Case Management Practice:An understanding of the complex variables that play in the management of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease will help the case manager to plan an effective course of care.Case managers need to ensure that patients receive long-term oxygen technology that supports their lifestyle, promotes compliance, and ultimately achieves the desired outcomes.Case managers must advocate for coordinated, ongoing patient education and stress the need for continuing reinforcement.Case managers must ensure that patients under their care be matched with durable medical equipment providers that provide the technology and support that favors positive clinical outcomes.
Apical Systolic Eccentricity Index: A Better Marker of Right Ventricular Compromise in Pulmonary Hypertension

Background: Systolic eccentricity index (sEI) has been traditionally measured at the papillary muscle (PM) level. However, this measurement does not take into account the remodeling that occurs in the right ventricle (RV) during chronic pulmonary hypertension (cPH). Methods: Standard echocardiographic data were collected on 50 patients (age 58 ± 14 years) with known cPH (74 ± 22 mmHg; range 45–120 mmHg) who had adequate short‐axis views at the mitral valve (MV), PM, and apical (AP) levels to measure sEI. All had a normal left ventricular ejection fraction (72 ± 10%). Results: In a multivariate analysis, the traditional PM level sEI correlated the best with cPH when pulmonary artery systolic pressures (PASP) ranged between 45 and 60 mmHg (r =−0.569, P < 0.001) while AP level sEI was better when all patients were included in the analysis (r =−0.843, P < 0.0001). Not only was AP level sEI the only echo variable helpful in identifying a dilated end diastolic RV area (r =−0.730, P < 0.0001) but also patients with worse RV systolic performance (r = 0.686, P < 0.0001). MV level sEI was not better than PM level sEI. Conclusions: AP level sEI appears to be superior to traditional PM level sEI measurement as it correlates better with worsening PH severity, RV cavity dilation and RV systolic dysfunction. Further studies are now required to prospectively study how these septal abnormalities in cPH may affect RV as well as LV systolic and diastolic function. (Echocardiography 2010;27:534‐538)
Optimal actuator placement for linear systems with limited number of actuators

A completely controllable linear dynamical system can be steered from any given initial state to any specified final state with an application of input control energy. The input control energy is provided through a combination of actuators. It is desirable to have a limited number of actuators, which also presents the possibility of multiple actuator combinations that render the system completely controllable. Hence, the optimal actuator placement problem very important in system design. Previous studies have been mainly focused on solving the optimal actuator placement problem using greedy heuristic methods which can provide a sub-optimal solution. In this work, the optimal actuator placement problem is presented as a 0/1-mixed integer semidefinite programming problem, and is solved using the branch-and-bound procedure. The problem formulation can be applied to both stable and unstable systems, and the solution procedure does not require an initial controllable actuator combination (starting point). Although no theoretical guarantees regarding optimality of the computed solution is provided in this work, numerical simulations performed on two examples yield the global optimal solution for the optimal actuator placement problem.
Nonlinear hierarchical adaptive control of a quad tilt-wing UAV

Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) have become an indispensable part of many military and civilian applications. The popularity of these vehicles have led to a demand for novel mechanical con gurations and controllers which are adaptable for the requirements of the desired tasks. In this thesis, a nonlinear hierarchical adaptive controller is proposed for the control of a quad tilt-wing unmanned aerial vehicle (SUAVI: Sabanci University Unmanned Aerial Vehicle). SUAVI can take-o vertically as a helicopter and ies like a xed-wing airplane during the long duration ights for power e ciency. In order to compensate for the uncertainties such as moment of inertia changes during the transition from vertical mode to horizontal mode and aerodynamic disturbances an adaptive controller framework is proposed. In the outer loop of the hierarchical control, a model reference adaptive controller with robustifying terms creates required forces to track the reference trajectory and in the inner loop a nonlinear adaptive controller tracks the desired attitude angles to achieve these forces. The proposed controller is applied to a high delity UAV model in the presence of uncertainties, wind disturbances and measurement noise. A structural failure is introduced which results in sudden actuator power drops, mass, inertia and center of gravity changes. Performance of the proposed controller is compared with the feedback linearized xed controller used in earlier studies.
Workshop: Modern techniques for the pathological investigation of brain tumors Oligodendroglioma: Impact of molecular biology on its definition, diagnosis and management

Molecular genetics and biology have been having significant influence on the practice of neuro-oncology in recent years, with oligodendrogliomas being the most prominent example. The majority of oligodendrogliomas show remarkable sensitivity to chemotherapy, and the finding that the loss of chromosome 1p was tightly associated with the response opened a new era in which the treatment can be tailored for each tumor patient based on molecular genetic diagnosis. It has been noticed that histological features, when closely examined, are also correlated with the molecular genetic data, such as losses of 1p/19q/10q and TP53 mutation. Furthermore, expression profiling using microarray technology showed that oligodendrogliomas with 1p loss express high levels of neuronal genes, suggesting that the progenitor of those tumors may be shared with neurons. Considering the rapid progress of the knowledge in neural developmental biology, it is possible that the classification, definition and diagnosis of gliomas will be rewritten based on such knowledge at the molecular level in the near future, if they reflect the biological features of each tumor better than the histological diagnosis based mostly on morphology.
Roles of M-phase cell cycle regulatory paralogs in the urochordate Oikopleura dioica

Oogenesis in the urochordate, Oikopleura dioica, occurs in a large coenocyst in which vitellogenesis precedes oocyte selection in order to adapt oocyte production to nutrient conditions. The animal has expanded Cyclin-Dependant Kinase 1 (CDK1) and Cyclin B paralog complements, with several expressed during oogenesis. Here, we addressed functional redundancy and specialization of CDK1 and cyclin B paralogs during oogenesis and early embryogenesis through spatiotemporal analyses and knockdown assays. CDK1a translocated from organizing centres (OCs) to selected meiotic nuclei at the beginning of the P4 phase of oogenesis, and its knockdown impaired vitellogenesis, nurse nuclear dumping, and entry of nurse nuclei into apoptosis. CDK1d-Cyclin Ba translocated from OCs to selected meiotic nuclei in P4, drove meiosis resumption and promoted nuclear envelope breakdown (NEBD). CDK1d-Cyclin Ba was also involved in histone H3S28 phosphorylation on centromeres and meiotic spindle assembly through regulating Aurora B localization to centromeres during prometaphase I. In other studied species, Cyclin B3 commonly promotes anaphase entry, but we found O. dioica Cyclin B3a to be non-essential for anaphase entry during oogenic meiosis. Instead, Cyclin B3a contributed to meiotic spindle assembly though its loss could be compensated by Cyclin Ba. ARTICLE HISTORY Received 13 March 2018 Accepted 29 May 2018