Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Multiparty specification

“Specification-in-the-large”, that is the development of requirements specifications for systems of substantial complex@ and scale, mtrrors “progranrming -in-the-large” in raising a variety of dimculties that lie beyond the clerical problems of handling large amounts of information (Cunningham, Finkelstein et aI 1985. Finkelstein 8r Potts 1987). One such difficulty is that of specification from multiple viewpoints (Niskier 1987). Specification-in-thelarge is an activity in which there are many participants clients. systems analysts, engineers, domain experts and so on. Each has differing perspectives on, and knowledge about. the object system. as well as a variety of skills. roles and so on. In some cases the perspectivea may be based on underlying contradictions. To construct a specification the participants must cooperate: that is, contribute to the achievement of a joint understanding.
Mathematical methods for holographic mask with layered structure synthesis

In this paper variouslayeredholographic mask structures are proposed and their effectiveness is assessed. A method for diffraction modelling, suitable for use in layered structures of such masks, is proposed. A software module that allows to calculate the transmission and reflection of a plane wave of arbitrary polarization on periodic inhomogeneous medium with a cylindrical structure is developed. This software module is intended to be used for the study of applicability limits of some approximate methods for solving diffraction problems. The developed methods and programs have also been used to solve problems in other fields of electrodynamics, for example, in the problem of ocean surface radiolocation. Mathematical modelling of effects such as Brewster angle and Wood’s anomaly was performed with the resulting software module. Quantitative modelling results coincide with the analytical formulas with good accuracy.
How to obtain an SI Joint arthrogram 90% of the time in 30 seconds or less.

To the Editor: SI Joint pain is present in between 18.5%-30% of patients presenting with chronic low back pain (1, 2). However, despite its prevalence, many interventionalists avoid the joint because of the diffi culty in reliably and quickly obtaining an arthrogram. While the classic technique for injection described by Fortin et al (3) can access the joint, my experience demonstrated an unacceptably low likelihood of obtaining a reliable arthrogram in a reasonable amount of time. As a result, a new technique was developed by trial and error which allows prompt access to an SI arthrogram with high reproducibility. The Centeno technique enters the lower part of the SI joint similar to other techniques, but recognizes that the SI joint is a potential space. As a result, a 22 gauge needle is used (rather than a 25 gauge needle, which is becoming more common) to dilate the lower portion of the joint. The fl uoroscope beam is tilted cephalad so that the lower portion of the joint can be imaged with the beam “looking down” the lower joint. As with any other technique, more time is spent with image prep than injection. The C-Arm is orbited back and forth such that both sides of the lower joint are crisp. The main difference between the Centeno and other techniques is that it relies on the idea that small changes in the depth of the injection can lead to dramatic improvement in contrast fl ow. As a result, the needle is inserted How to Obtain an SI Joint Arthrogram 90% of the Time in 30 Seconds or Less
Oceanographic and behavioural assumptions in models of the fate of coral and coral reef fish larvae

A predictive model of the fate of coral reef fish larvae in a reef system is proposed that combines the oceanographic processes of advection and turbulent diffusion with the biological process of horizontal swimming controlled by olfactory and auditory cues within the timescales of larval development. In the model, auditory cues resulted in swimming towards the reefs when within hearing distance of the reef, whereas olfactory cues resulted in the larvae swimming towards the natal reef in open waters by swimming against the concentration gradients in the smell plume emanating from the natal reef. The model suggested that the self-seeding rate may be quite large, at least 20% for the larvae of rapidly developing reef fish species, which contrasted with a self-seeding rate less than 2% for non-swimming coral larvae. The predicted self-recruitment rate of reefs was sensitive to a number of parameters, such as the time at which the fish larvae reach post-flexion, the pelagic larval duration of the larvae, the horizontal turbulent diffusion coefficient in reefal waters and the horizontal swimming behaviour of the fish larvae in response to auditory and olfactory cues, for which better field data are needed. Thus, the model suggested that high self-seeding rates for reef fish are possible, even in areas where the ‘sticky water’ effect is minimal and in the absence of long-term trapping in oceanic fronts and/or large-scale oceanic eddies or filaments that are often argued to facilitate the return of the larvae after long periods of drifting at sea.
Spikes, Roots, and Aliasing: Recovering Bandlimited Signals from Roots of the Short-Time Fourier Transform

This paper exploits analyticity of time-frequency representations for the recovery of bandlimited signals. The main goal is to recover the signal, up to an overall multiplicative constant, from the roots of its short-time Fourier transform. To ensure a sufficient number of roots in the transform, we use a type of aliasing, a time-frequency quasi-periodization of the signal. We also consider sparse bandlimited signals, meaning ones with few nonzero sample values. Under certain statistical assumptions on the signal, the number of roots needed to recover the signal depends only on the number of nonzero sample values. We conclude with an experimental part that validates the recovery for sparse signals corrupted by noise.
Properties of a Laser Shock Wave in Al-Cu Alloy under Elevated Temperatures: A Molecular Dynamics Simulation Study

The laser shock wave (LSW) generated by the interaction between a laser and a material has been widely used in laser manufacturing, such as laser shock peening and laser shock forming. However, due to the high strain rate, the propagation of LSW in materials, especially LSW at elevated temperatures, is difficult to study through experimental methods. A molecular dynamics simulation was used in this study to investigate the propagation of LSW in an Al-Cu alloy. The Hugoniot relations of LSW were obtained at different temperatures and the effects of elevated temperatures on shock velocity and shock pressure were analyzed. Then the elastic and plastic wave of the LSW was researched. Finally, the evolution of dislocations induced by LSW and its mechanism under elevated temperatures was explored. The results indicate that the shock velocity and shock pressure induced by LSW both decrease with the increasing temperatures. Moreover, the velocity of elastic wave and plastic wave both decrease with the increasing treatment temperature, while their difference decreases as the temperature increases. Moreover, the dislocation atoms increases with the increasing temperatures before 2 ps, while it decreases with the increasing temperatures after 2 ps. The reason for the results is related to the formation and evolution of extended dislocations.
Four-layer categorization scheme of fast GMM computation techniques in large vocabulary continuous speech recognition systems

Large vocabulary continuous speech recognition systems are known to be computationally intensive. A major bottle-neck is the Gaussian mixture model (GMM) computation and various techniques have been proposed to address this problem. We present a systematic study of fast GMM computation techniques. As there are a large number of these and it is impractical to exhaustively evaluate all of them, we ﬁrst categorized techniques into four layers and selected representative ones to evaluate in each layer. Based on this framework of study, we provide a detailed analysis and comparison of GMM computation techniques from the four-layer perspective and explore two subtle practical issues, 1) how different techniques can be combined effectively and 2) how beam pruning will affect the performance of GMM computation techniques. All techniques are evaluated in the CMU Communicator domain. We also compare their performance with others reported in the literature.
Up in Smoke: A New View on an Old Friend

As Dr. Eric Baron so thoroughly reviews in this issue of Headache Currents, cannabis had many uses prior to political interference. Despite the growing evidence of the possible benefits of cannabis, politics continues to mar progress. What else is new? In fact, as Dr. Baron pointed out, there is growing support from the medical community for the medical use of marijuana. A 2013 New England Journal of Medicine poll found 76% of 1446 votes favored the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes. In that poll, the voters were from 72 countries and 56 North American states and provinces. Keep in mind that cannabis is still illegal in most countries. While researches must monitor the long-term effects of medical cannabis, it is likely that cannabis is less dangerous than opioids and benzodiazepines. There are no reported deaths due to cannabis. The following facts are from the CDC concerning prescription drug overdoses.
Ethics of Seamless infrastructures: Resources and Future Directions

The argument of this paper is that the rhetoric of “seamlessness” and its embodiment within certain information infrastructures may be ethically problematic due to the way it articulates a particular kind of passivity and lack of engagement between people and their actions and between people and their social and material environment. The paper describes “seamlessness” as a socio-technical value, details its use in context, and outlines three areas of scholarship that can provide necessary perspectives and methods for research on “seamlessness” and other tropes of ubiquitous computing. 1
High-strength cellular ceramic composites with 3D microarchitecture

Significance It has been a long-standing effort to create materials with low density but high strength. Technical foams are very light, but compared with bulk materials, their strength is quite low because of their random structure. Natural lightweight materials, such as bone, are cellular solids with optimized architecture. They are structured hierarchically and actually consist of nanometer-size building blocks, providing a benefit from mechanical size effects. In this paper, we demonstrate that materials with a designed microarchitecture, which provides both structural advantages and size-dependent strengthening effects, may be fabricated. Using 3D laser lithography, we produced micro-truss and -shell structures from ceramic–polymer composites that exceed the strength-to-weight ratio of all engineering materials, with a density below 1,000 kg/m3. To enhance the strength-to-weight ratio of a material, one may try to either improve the strength or lower the density, or both. The lightest solid materials have a density in the range of 1,000 kg/m3; only cellular materials, such as technical foams, can reach considerably lower values. However, compared with corresponding bulk materials, their specific strength generally is significantly lower. Cellular topologies may be divided into bending- and stretching-dominated ones. Technical foams are structured randomly and behave in a bending-dominated way, which is less weight efficient, with respect to strength, than stretching-dominated behavior, such as in regular braced frameworks. Cancellous bone and other natural cellular solids have an optimized architecture. Their basic material is structured hierarchically and consists of nanometer-size elements, providing a benefit from size effects in the material strength. Designing cellular materials with a specific microarchitecture would allow one to exploit the structural advantages of stretching-dominated constructions as well as size-dependent strengthening effects. In this paper, we demonstrate that such materials may be fabricated. Applying 3D laser lithography, we produced and characterized micro-truss and -shell structures made from alumina–polymer composite. Size-dependent strengthening of alumina shells has been observed, particularly when applied with a characteristic thickness below 100 nm. The presented artificial cellular materials reach compressive strengths up to 280 MPa with densities well below 1,000 kg/m3.
Indirect resin composites

Aesthetic dentistry continues to evolve through innovations in bonding agents, restorative materials, and conservative preparation techniques. The use of direct composite restoration in posterior teeth is limited to relatively small cavities due to polymerization stresses. Indirect composites offer an esthetic alternative to ceramics for posterior teeth. This review article focuses on the material aspect of the newer generation of composites. This review was based on a PubMed database search which we limited to peer-reviewed articles in English that were published between 1990 and 2010 in dental journals. The key words used were ‘indirect resin composites,’ composite inlays,’ and ‘fiber-reinforced composites. ’
Effects of angiopoietin-like protein 3 deficiency on postprandial lipid and lipoprotein metabolism1[S]

The consequences of angiopoietin-like protein 3 (ANGPTL3) deficiency on postprandial lipid and lipoprotein metabolism has not been investigated in humans. We studied 7 homozygous (undetectable circulating ANGPTL3 levels) and 31 heterozygous (50% of circulating ANGPTL3 levels) subjects with familial combined hypolipidemia (FHBL2) due to inactivating ANGPTL3 mutations in comparison with 35 controls. All subjects were evaluated at fasting and during 6 h after a high fat meal. Postprandial lipid and lipoprotein changes were quantified by calculating the areas under the curve (AUCs) using the 6 h concentration data. Plasma changes of β-hydroxybutyric acid (β-HBA) were measured as marker of hepatic oxidation of fatty acids. Compared with controls, homozygotes showed lower incremental AUCs (iAUCs) of total TG (−69%, P < 0.001), TG-rich lipoproteins (−90%, P < 0.001), apoB-48 (−78%, P = 0.032), and larger absolute increase of FFA (128%, P < 00.1). Also, heterozygotes displayed attenuated postprandial lipemia, but the difference was significant only for the iAUC of apoB-48 (−28%; P < 0.05). During the postprandial period, homozygotes, but not heterozygotes, showed a lower increase of β-HBA. Our findings demonstrate that complete ANGPTL3 deficiency associates with highly reduced postprandial lipemia probably due to faster catabolism of intestinally derived lipoproteins, larger expansion of the postprandial FFA pool, and decreased influx of dietary-derived fatty acids into the liver. These results add information on mechanisms underlying hypolipidemia in FHBL2.
Non-pharmacological Interventions in Hypertension: A Community-based Cross-over Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Hypertension is the most prevalent non-communicable disease causing significant morbidity/mortality through cardiovascular, cerebrovascular, and renal complications. Objectives: This community-based study tested the efficacy of non-pharmacological interventions in preventing/controlling hypertension. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-over randomized controlled trial (RCT) of the earlier RCT (2007) of non-pharmacological interventions in hypertension, conducted in the urban service area of our Institute. The subjects, prehypertensive and hypertensive young adults (98 subjects: 25, 23, 25, 25 in four groups) were randomly allotted into a group that he/she had not belonged to in the earlier RCT: Control (New Group I), Physical Exercise (NG II)-brisk walking for 50 to 60 minutes, three to four days/week, Salt Intake Reduction (NG III) to at least half of their previous intake, Yoga (NG IV) for 30 to 45 minutes/day, five days/week. Blood pressure was measured before and after eight weeks of intervention. Analysis was by ANOVA with a Games-Howell post hoc test. Results: Ninety-four participants (25, 23, 21, 25) completed the study. All three intervention groups showed significant reduction in BP (SBP/DBP mmHg: 5.3/6.0 in NG II, 2.5/2.0 in NG III, and 2.3/2.4 in NG IV, respectively), while the Control Group showed no significant difference. Persistence of significant reduction in BP in the three intervention groups after cross-over confirmed the biological plausibility of these non-pharmacological interventions. This study reconfirmed that physical exercise was more effective than Salt Reduction or Yoga. Salt Reduction, and Yoga were equally effective. Conclusion: Physical exercise, salt intake reduction, and yoga are effective non-pharmacological methods for reducing blood pressure in young pre-hypertensive and hypertensive adults.
Scalable production of tissue engineered microunits for bone regeneration using bioactive glass microspheres and dynamic culture conditions

Bone is one of the most common tissues to be transplanted, with over 2.2 million grafting procedures performed worldwide every year (Van der Stok et al., 2011). Autologous bone grafts, while considered the current gold standard, have inherent risks including limited donor tissue availability, donor site morbidity, surgical complications, and pain of procedure. Alternative approaches to treating bone tissue defects are required based on clinically effective bone graft substitutes that can be manufactured at a commercially relevant scale. Tissue engineering is an alternative strategy that uses biocompatible scaffolds in combination with cells as a bioactive implant to induce bone repair. In this thesis, microspherical bioactive glasses have been studied as a platform for scalable bone tissue engineering that has flexibility to address diverse geometric requirements with the aim of becoming a commercially available tool. Specifically, titanium-doped phosphate glass microspheres have been studied for their ability to support bone progenitor cells. Here, the microspheres (5 and 7 mol% TiO2) were assessed in their ability to support proliferation of osteoblast-like cell (MG63) and proliferation and osteogenic differentiation of human bone-marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (hBM-MSCs) under static and dynamic agitation culture. Scalability was assessed using scalable dimensionless Froude number to scale microwell plate cultures to 125ml Erlenmeyer flask cultures using Froude as a tool to map mixing systems at both scales. MG63 and hBM-MSC proliferation was observed on the microspheres under all conditions studied as well as extracellular matrix protein secretion, confirming the biocompatibility of the materials tested. Similar growth kinetics was observed at both scales, where moderate agitation stimulated cell proliferation, but higher agitation was damaging to cells. Upregulation of key bone expression markers (COL1A1 and SPP1) was observed also at moderate orbital agitations, while on at high agitation rates this was largely absent, except for upregulation of SPP1 on the control microsphere, Synthemax. Furthermore, biomaterial resorption was observed upon differentiating mouse-derived monocytes into osteoclasts on the titanium-phosphate glass discs. In conclusion, large-scale culture using titanium-doped phosphate glass microspheres was achieved with hBM-MSCs, with the substrate effectively supporting cell proliferation and osteogenic differentiation. This research provides a stepping stone in understanding how biomaterials processed into microcarrier format can be utilised in a commercial environment to create clinically relevant quantities of tissue engineering bone.
Influence of dietary polyunsaturation level on α-tocopherol content in chicken meat

* Department of Animal and Food Science, Facultat de Veterinària, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, Spain ** Department of Nutrition and Food Science-CeRTA, Facultat de Farmàcia, Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain *** Department of Animal Nutrition and Physiology, Danish Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Research Centre Foulum, Tjele, Denmark Manuskript eingegangen am 3. Dezember 2004, angenommen am 20. März 2005
Concise Review: Culture Mediated Changes in Fate and/or Potency of Stem Cells

Although Gurdon demonstrated already in 1958 that the nucleus of intestinal epithelial cells could be reprogrammed to give rise to adult frogs, the field of cellular reprogramming has only recently come of age with the description by Takahashi and Yamanaka in 2006, which defined transcription factors can reprogram fibroblasts to an embryonic stem cell‐like fate. With the mounting interest in the use of human pluripotent stem cells and culture‐expanded somatic stem/progenitor cells, such as mesenchymal stem cells, increasing attention has been given to the effect of changes in the in vitro microenvironment on the fate of stem cells. These studies have demonstrated that changes in culture conditions may change the potency of pluripotent stem cells or reprogram adult stem/progenitor cells to endow them with a broader differentiation potential. The mechanisms underlying these fate and potency changes by ex vivo culture should be further investigated and considered when designing clinical therapies with stem/progenitor cells. STEM CELLS 2011;29:583–589
Dichotic assessment of verbal memory function: development and validation of the Persian version of Dichotic Verbal Memory Test.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The Dichotic Verbal Memory Test (DVMT) is useful in detecting verbal memory deficits and differences in memory function between the brain hemispheres. The purpose of this study was to prepare the Persian version of DVMT, to obtain its results in 18- to 25-yr-old Iranian individuals, and to examine the ear, gender, and serial position effect. RESEARCH DESIGN The Persian version of DVMT consisted of 18 10-word lists. After preparing the 18 lists, content validity was assessed by a panel of eight experts and the equivalency of the lists was evaluated. Then the words were recorded on CD in a dichotic mode such that 10 words were presented to one ear, with the same words reversed simultaneously presented to the other ear. Thereafter, it was performed on a sample of young, normal, Iranian individuals. STUDY SAMPLE Thirty normal individuals (no history of neurological, ontological, or psychological diseases) with ages ranging from 18 to 25 yr were examined for evaluating the equivalency of the lists, and 110 subjects within the same age range participated in the final stage of the study to obtain the normative data on the developed test. RESULTS There was no significant difference between the mean scores of the 18 developed lists (p > 0.05). The mean content validity index (CVI) score was . 96. A significant difference was found between the mean score of the two ears (p < 0.05) and between female and male participants (p < 0.05). CONCLUSION The Persian version of DVMT has good content validity and can be used for verbal memory assessment in Iranian young adults.
An efficient Security Solution for Dealing with Shortened URL Analysis

With the boom of the Internet, and particularly of social networks, information sharing possibilities have increased. In this context, the so called URL shortening services, consisting of compacting a web link into a much shorter and manageable one, have arisen. However, the popularity of Web 2.0 also causes users to be unprotected against certain types of unwanted contents and attacks motivated by the desire of economic profit, which translates as an exponential increase in security incidents. Moreover, URL shortening services provide attackers a new method of obfuscation to malicious web links, hindering the analysis and detection of unwanted sites. Thus, we propose here a solution to solve the real destination of a shortened URL, analysing it in terms of security.