Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
A new approach to affordable and reliable cardiology PACS architecture using open-source technology

In the past ten years we followed the expansion of cardiology imaging technology and how it relates to integration, tele-consulting and standards. The new frontier of Picture archiving and communication systems (PACS) is expanding and require more technology and resources. Cardiology imaging is evolving and needs even more resources than before. The present work proposes a new approach to manage a large cardiology PACS installation using new open-source facilities on affordable hardware creating a reliable system. For this kind of application we moved our core system from Linux platform to the new OpenSolaris unix and to novelty Functions like Solaris Containers, ZFS file-system and Fair Share Scheduler, in order to achieve server consolidation, ease of use and reliability.
Rheological Percolation in Thermoplastic Polymer Nanocomposites

The dispersion of nanofillers in in polymer matrix is a critical issue not only because of its scientific importance but also for technical reasons. Quantitative analysis of extent of dispersion of fillers by measuring the rheological characteristics of thermoplastic polymer nanocomposites has great technical importance for improving processing conditions, for understanding the fundamental characteristics of the materials at the nanoscale and structureproperties relationships of nanocomposites materials and in their commercial applications. Viscoelastic properties including the percolation threshold are extremely sensitive to how the nanofillers are dispersed. The percolation threshold, corresponding to the onset of solid-like behaviour can be observed at lower filler concentrations as the dispersion is improved, or the interaction between the nanofiller and the matrix is stronger or the filler aspect ratio is larger. This review highlights the various factors such as nature of filler, dispersion of fillers, fabrication techniques for polymer nanocomposites, interaction between filler and polymer, filler-filler interactions and temperature which affect the rheological percolation of thermoplastic polymer nanocomposites.
Plasma Adiponectin Levels and Five-Year Survival After First-Ever Ischemic Stroke

Background and Purpose— This study aimed to investigate the association between plasma adiponectin levels and 5-year survival after first-ever ischemic stroke. Methods— Plasma adiponectin measured within 24 hours after first-ever ischemic stroke was related to 5-year outcome. The Kaplan–Meier technique was applied in survival analysis, and the Cox proportional hazards model was used to evaluate the relationship between risk factors and prognosis. Results— The probabilities of death were 92.8%, 52.5%, and 10.5% (P<0.001) for patients stratified according to tertiles of adiponectin (<4 &mgr;g/mL, 4 to 7 &mgr;g/mL, and >7 &mgr;g/mL, respectively). The relative risk of death was 8.1 (95% CI, 3.1, 24.5; P<0.001) for individuals with adiponectin levels in the lowest tertile compared with the upper tertile. Adiponectin <4 &mgr;g/mL (hazard ratio [HR], 5.2; 95% CI, 2.1, 18.4; P<0.001), score >15 in the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (HR, 3.6; 95% CI, 1.7, 15.9; P<0.001), and coronary heart disease (HR, 2.9; 95% CI, 1.5, 12.3; P<0.001) were independently associated with mortality. Conclusions— Low plasma adiponectin is related to an increased risk of 5-year mortality after first-ever ischemic stroke, independently of other adverse predictors.
Lower bounds on the size of sweeping automata

Establishing good lower bounds on the complexity of languages is an important area of current research in the theory of computation. However, despite much effort, fundamental questions such as P =? NP and L =? NL remain open. To resolve these questions it may be necessary to develop a deep combinatorial understanding of polynomial time or log space computations, possibly a formidable task. One avenue for approaching these problems is to study weaker models of computation for which the analogous problems may be easier to settle, perhaps yielding insight into the original problems. Sakoda and Sipser [3] raise the following question about finite automata: Is there a polynomial p, such that every n-state 2nfa (two-way nondeterministic finite automaton) has an equivalent p(n)-state 2dfa? They conjecture a negative answer to this. In this paper we take a step toward proving this conjecture by showing that 2nfa are exponentially more succinct than 2dfa of a certain restricted form.
Exoderm—A Novel, Phenol-Based Peeling Method Resulting in Improved Safety

Exoderm is a newly developed chemical deep-depth peeling method that has been shown to exhibit excellent results in the treatment of a broad spectrum of aging-skin defects. The new formula is devoid of common undesired effects, such as cardiac arrhythmias, long-lasting erythema, depigmentation, and scar formation. Our experience with more than 4000 patients attests to the safety of the method. Exoderm compares favorably with other surgical and nonsurgical procedures for facial rejuvenation.
On the (soccer) ball

The problem of tracking ball in a soccer video is challenging because of sudden change in speed and orientation of the soccer ball. Successful tracking in such a scenario depends on the ability of the algorithm to balance prior constraints continuously against the evidence garnered from the sequences of images. This paper proposes a particle filter based algorithm that tracks the ball when it changes its direction suddenly or takes high speed. Exact, deterministic tracking algorithms based on discretized functional, suffer from severe limitations in the form of prior constraints. Our tracking algorithm has shown excellent result even for partial occlusion which is a major concern in soccer video. We have shown that the proposed tracking algorithm is at least 7.2% better compared to competing approaches for soccer ball tracking.
OcNoC: Efficient One-Cycle Router Implementation for 3D Mesh Network-on-Chip

The overall system-on-chip performance depends on the network architecture, whose communication latency significantly impacts on the application performance. The challenge for on-chip networks is reducing costs while providing high performance such as low latency and high throughput. One alternative to achieve such goals is to implement efficient router architectures capable of fast packet switching and routing for parallel and scalable Networks-on-Chip (NoCs). We propose a single cycle router implementation for 3D Mesh NoCs with two arbitration approaches. Our evaluations show that the proposed one-cycle router can reduce network latency up to 57% and application latency up to 67%, when compared to multistage routers. This improvement comes with minimal silicon area overhead when compared to baseline router micro architecture, while still maintaining short critical paths.
Assessment of the bioactive potential of demineralised dentine matrix on bone marrow-derived, mesenchymal stem cells

At present, the prime candidate for augmentation of bone defects are autologous bone grafts (ABGs), owing to their ability to emulate the physiological signalling environment to induce bone marrow-derived, mesenchymal stem cells (BMMSCs) to differentiate into functional osteoblasts. However, the uses of ABGs are negated due to patient complications. Dentine matrix has recently become increasingly recognised as possessing bioactive nature and has demonstrated the ability to augment bone repair in vivo. However, the constituents of dentine that confer efficacy for bone formation are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to determine the potential for demineralised dentine matrix (DDM) to induce biological responses of BMMSCs and elucidate the key mediators required for bioactivity. Isolation of a sub-population of BMMSCs yielded a population of cells with enhanced expansive capacity in vitro, with maintained mesenchymal stem cell marker expression. Application of DDM to BMMSCs significantly reduced cell expansion (0.1-10μg/mL), reduced apoptotic activity (10μg/mL) and enhanced migration (0.1μg/mL). Importantly, DDM at 10μg/mL directed osteogenesis of BMMSC by enhancing RunX2 gene expression after 5 days and deposition of a mineralised matrix after 28 days. Western blot and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) analyses of DDM identified a plethora of growth factors associated with directing osteogenesis of BMMSCs, including; transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1), bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) and vascular epidermal growth factor (VEGF). Fractionation of DDM by heparin-affinity, to concentrate growth factors, resulted in diminished potential of DDM to enhance RunX2 expression and mineral deposition of BMMSCs. Depletion of decorin from DDM had no effect on osteogenic potential, however, depletion of biglycan attenuated RunX2 expression and mineral deposition. Substrates composed of silk-fibroin/gelatin (SF/G) at ratios of 75:25 supported attachment and expansion of BMMSCs with no discernible changes in morphology, compared to cells cultured on plastic. Addition of DDM to SF/G substrates resulted in enhanced BMMSC expansion (20μg/mL) and evidence of mineralised matrix deposition (5-20μg/mL), compared to un-loaded SF/G substrates. In conclusion, DDM possesses bioactive potential towards BMMSCs, which is attributable to a range of synergistically acting growth factors along with additional matrix constituents. The ability of DDM to stimulate osteogenesis demonstrates potential for future developments in the field of tissue engineering of bone.
Mapping knowledge to language with LOOM

In language generation, one of the central tasks is to map a "deep" representation of some kind to lexical units, from which a grammatical utterance can be produced. Unless a strict one-to-one relationship between concepts and words is assumed, which, we argue, is too simplistic for the general case, some sort of structure-mapping process is required for accomplishing this step. We investigate the mechanisms that one particular knowledge representation language of the KL-ONE family has to offer for this purpose, and compare their relative merits.
INVERSION TECHNIQUES FOR UNDERDETERMINED BSS IN AN ARBITRARY NUMBER OF DIMENSIONS

The underdetermined Blind Source Separation (BSS) problem consist of estimating n sources from the measurements provided by m < n sensors. In the noise-free linear model, the measurements are a linear combination of the sources, so that the mixing process is represented by a rectangular mixing matrix of m rows and n columns. The solution process can be decomposed in two stages: first estimate the mixing matrix from the measurements, and then estimate the “best” solution compatible with the underdetermined set of linear equations. Most of the results presented for the underdetermined BSS problem are based on geometric ideas valid for the m = 2 scenario. In this paper we extend these ideas to higher dimensions, and develop techniques to both estimate the mixing matrix and to invert the underdetermined linear problem that are valid for an arbitrary number of sources and measurements, provided 1 < m < n.
Optimal tuning for an abrupt change detection algorithm: Application to an underground gallery structure health monitoring

The aim of this paper is to detect faults such as cracks in an underground structure to ensure its health monitoring. The proposed approach is based on an ARMAX modeling of a deformation sensor (a vibrating wire gauge), to generate a residual. This residual is then used by a statistical test, the dynamic cumulative sum, to generate a detection function which is compared to a threshold for decision. The main contribution of this paper is the use of the receiver operating characteristic curve to optimally tune the parameters of the statistical test and to have the best fault detection/false alarm rate. The originality of this work is that the receiver operating characteristic curve is used for two aims: First, to optimally tune the sliding windows width of the statistical test and second, to precisely tune the decision threshold. The effectiveness of the proposed method is highlighted on the application of an underground gallery structure health monitoring.
Integrating churn into the formal analysis of routing algorithms

Mathematical modeling and analysis of distributed systems, mostly applied with the goal of the correctness or asymptotic behavior of a system, rarely provides concrete results and often disregards or simplifies network dynamics. However, concrete performance bounds on a system under churn are highly useful both as a validation of empirical results and a scalable alternative to simulations. In this paper, we first present an abstract methodology for deriving the success probability of an action, such as routing, in a dynamic system, using the session length distribution as the decisive parameter. We evaluate the developed methodology by giving concrete bounds on the success probability of recursive routing. The results do not only show the adaptability of our model, but also reveal that a considerable fraction of routing attempts fails due to a leaving node on the return path rather than due to not reaching the target.
RENEGOTIATION OF DEFENSE PROCUREMENT CONTRACTS

Ex ante contract terms are not always enforced ex post. Through the analysis of enforcement conditions of outsourcing contracts in the French defense procurement sector, I identify the determinants of renegotiations. I demonstrate that analyzing formal arrangements is not enough to account for renegotiations. Informal decision-making plays a major role in that perspective. Determinants of renegotiations are focused on uncertainty associated to implicit decision rules prevailing in this sector. Besides, I show that probity transactions can be regarded as a transactional environment that favors renegotiations.
Predicting Human Assessment of Machine Translation Quality by Combining Automatic Evaluation Metrics using Binary Classifiers

This paper presents a method to predict human assessments of machine translation (MT) quality based on a combination of binary classifiers using a coding matrix. The multiclass categorization problem is reduced to a set of binary problems that are solved using standard classification learning algorithms trained on the results of multiple automatic evaluation metrics. Experimental results using a large-scale human-annotated evaluation corpus show that the decomposition into binary classifiers achieves higher classification accuracies than the multiclass categorization problem. In addition, the proposed method achieves a higher correlation with human judgments on the sentence level compared to standard automatic evaluation measures. General Terms:
Single molecule localization microscopy of the distribution of chromatin using Hoechst and DAPI fluorescent probes

Several approaches have been described to fluorescently label and image DNA and chromatin in situ on the single-molecule level. These superresolution microscopy techniques are based on detecting optically isolated, fluorescently tagged anti-histone antibodies, fluorescently labeled DNA precursor analogs, or fluorescent dyes bound to DNA. Presently they suffer from various drawbacks such as low labeling efficiency or interference with DNA structure. In this report, we demonstrate that DNA minor groove binding dyes, such as Hoechst 33258, Hoechst 33342, and DAPI, can be effectively employed in single molecule localization microscopy (SMLM) with high optical and structural resolution. Upon illumination with low intensity 405 nm light, a small subpopulation of these molecules stochastically undergoes photoconversion from the original blue-emitting form to a green-emitting form. Using a 491 nm laser excitation, fluorescence of these green-emitting, optically isolated molecules was registered until “bleached”. This procedure facilitated substantially the optical isolation and localization of large numbers of individual dye molecules bound to DNA in situ, in nuclei of fixed mammalian cells, or in mitotic chromosomes, and enabled the reconstruction of high-quality DNA density maps. We anticipate that this approach will provide new insights into DNA replication, DNA repair, gene transcription, and other nuclear processes.
A Collaborative Replication Approach for Mobile-P2P Networks

This paper proposes CADRE Collaborative Allocation and De-allocation of Replicas with Efficiency, which is a dynamic replication scheme for improving the typically low data availability in dedicated and cooperative mobile ad-hoc peer-to-peer M-P2P networks. In particular, replica allocation and de-allocation are collaboratively performed in tandem to facilitate effective replication. Such collaboration is facilitated by a hybrid super-peer architecture in which some of the mobile hosts act as the 'gateway nodes' GNs in a given region. GNs facilitate both search and replication. The main contributions of CADRE are as follows. First, it facilitates the prevention of 'thrashing' conditions due to its collaborative replica allocation and de-allocation mechanism. Second, it considers the replication of images at different resolutions to optimize the usage of the generally limited memory space of the mobile hosts MHs. Third, it addresses fair replica allocation across the MHs. Fourth, it facilitates the optimization of the limited energy resources of MHs during replication. The authors' performance evaluation demonstrates that CADRE is indeed effective in improving data availability in M-P2P networks with significant reduction in query response times and low communication traffic during replication as compared to a recent existing scheme as well as a baseline approach, which does not consider any replication.
PemK Toxin of Bacillus anthracis Is a Ribonuclease

Bacillus anthracis genome harbors a toxin-antitoxin (TA) module encoding pemI (antitoxin) and pemK (toxin). This study describes the rPemK as a potent ribonuclease with a preference for pyrimidines (C/U), which is consistent with our previous study that demonstrated it as a translational attenuator. The in silico structural modeling of the PemK in conjunction with the site-directed mutagenesis confirmed the role of His-59 and Glu-78 as an acid-base couple in mediating the ribonuclease activity. The rPemK is shown to form a complex with the rPemI, which is in line with its function as a TA module. This rPemI-rPemK complex becomes catalytically inactive when both the proteins interact in a molar stoichiometry of 1. The rPemI displays vulnerability to proteolysis but attains conformational stability only upon rPemK interaction. The pemI-pemK transcript is shown to be up-regulated upon stress induction with a concomitant increase in the amount of PemK and a decline in the PemI levels, establishing the role of these modules in stress. The artificial perturbation of TA interaction could unleash the toxin, executing bacterial cell death. Toward this end, synthetic peptides are designed to disrupt the TA interaction. The peptides are shown to be effective in abrogating TA interaction in micromolar range in vitro. This approach can be harnessed as a potential antibacterial strategy against anthrax in the future.
Low-velocity impact performance of carbon fiber-reinforced plastics modified with carbon nanotube, nanoclay and hybrid nanoparticles

Addition of nanoparticles in polymeric composites for use in fabrication and characterization of fiber-reinforced plastic composites has recently shown a lot of promise. Nanoparticles typically used in most studies include multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and nanoclay. In the current research, in addition to including nanoclay and MWCNTs individually, we have also studied the effect of hybrid of the two in enhancing the impact performance of carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) composites. We have fabricated CFRP composites with 0.3 wt. % of MWCNTs, 2 wt. % of nanoclay and hybrid of MWCNTs and nanoclay at 0.1 wt. % and 2 wt. %, respectively. Control samples were also fabricated with no nanoparticles. Composite laminates were subjected to impact loading at 30, 40 and 50 J energy levels. Energy, load, displacement and velocity responses of samples were obtained. Damage area of control and all modified samples were investigated using digital thermography technique and compared. MWCNT and nanoclay enhanced the impact properties and reduced the damaged area of composite samples slightly. However, significant improvement was noticed for the hybrid nanoparticle-reinforced composite samples.
Towards Responsible Steel: Preliminary Insights

This paper examines the structures and processes underpinning the attempt of the Australian steel industry to establish a certification scheme for Responsible Steel. We take it as a case example of how collective action and collaboration along a supply chain has the potential to be a win-win situation for the environment and for the competitiveness of an industry sector. The paper identifies the drivers that have prompted key stakeholders from all major sectors of the Australian steel product life cycle from mining through steel manufacturing, processing, product fabrication, use and re-use, and recycling to collaborate in the establishment of the Steel Stewardship Forum (SSF), the structure established to lead the development of the certification scheme. The development of this initiative is indicative of the wider shift to sustainability-related certification schemes as a means of garnering legitimacy and market advantage and provides detailed insights into both the drivers for and the challenges associated with such initiatives. Findings from the paper contribute to our understanding of the shift to sustainable supply chains as it is interpreted through institutional and institutional entrepreneurship theory.
Epstein-Barr Virus Glycoprotein gB and gHgL Can Mediate Fusion and Entry in trans, and Heat Can Act as a Partial Surrogate for gHgL and Trigger a Conformational Change in gB

ABSTRACT Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) fusion with an epithelial cell requires virus glycoproteins gHgL and gB and is triggered by an interaction between gHgL and integrin αvβ5, αvβ6, or αvβ8. Fusion with a B cell requires gHgL, gp42, and gB and is triggered by an interaction between gp42 and human leukocyte antigen class II. We report here that, like alpha- and betaherpesviruses, EBV, a gammaherpesvirus, can mediate cell fusion if gB and gHgL are expressed in trans. Entry of a gH-null virus into an epithelial cell is possible if the epithelial cell expresses gHgL, and entry of the same virus, which phenotypically lacks gHgL and gp42, into a B cell expressing gHgL is possible in the presence of a soluble integrin. Heat is capable of inducing the fusion of cells expressing only gB, and the proteolytic digestion pattern of gB in virions changes in the same way following the exposure of virus to heat or to soluble integrins. It is suggested that the Gibbs free energy released as a result of the high-affinity interaction of gHgL with an integrin contributes to the activation energy required to cause the refolding of gB from a prefusion to a postfusion conformation. IMPORTANCE The core fusion machinery of herpesviruses consists of glycoproteins gB and gHgL. We demonstrate that as in alpha- and betaherpesvirus, gB and gHgL of the gammaherpesvirus EBV can mediate fusion and entry when expressed in trans in opposing membranes, implicating interactions between the ectodomains of the proteins in the activation of fusion. We further show that heat and exposure to a soluble integrin, both of which activate fusion, result in the same changes in the proteolytic digestion pattern of gB, possibly representing the refolding of gB from its prefusion to its postfusion conformation.