Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Matrix Structures and Image Restoration : Boundary Conditions , Re-Blurring , and Regularizing Multigrid-Type Algorithms

We consider the de-blurring problem of noisy and blurred images in the case of space invariant point spread functions (PSFs). The use of appropriate boundary conditions (see [2,10,12]) leads to linear systems with structured coefficient matrices related to space invariant operators like Toeplitz, circulants, trigonometric matrix algebras etc. We can obtain an effective and fast solver by combining the optimally convergent algebraic multigrid described in [11,1] with the Tikhonov regularization (see [3]). A completely alternative proposal is to apply the latter algebraic multigrid (which is designed ad hoc for structured matrices) with the low-pass projectors typical of the classical geometrical multigrid employed in a PDEs context. Thus, using an appropriate smoother, we obtain an iterative regularizing method (see [9]). Unfortunately, the normal equations approach used in connection with popular regularization processes (Tikhonov, CGNE, Landweber etc.) spoils the structure of matrix algebra and the modelistic features of the most precise boundary conditions i.e. reflective [10] and anti-reflective [12,5]. A remedy both for the computational and modelistic problems is to replace the transposition operation (A → A ) by the correlation operation (A → A, see [4]): we called this idea “re-blurring” (for a comprehensive discussion on this subject see [8,7,6,4]).
A Framework for Sensor Integration Based on Networks of Distributed Probabilistic Agents

1. Background The U.S. Military faces the dilemma of assessing where and when to optimally deploy assets during military conflicts. Although unmanned vehicles loaded with sensors can detect potential targets and provide invaluable data that could help to decide how best to distribute assets, integrating that data and transforming it into meaningful information, amenable for intelligent decisions, still requires significant effort.
Gene expression and discovery during lens regeneration in mouse: regulation of epithelial to mesenchymal transition and lens differentiation.

PURPOSE It has been shown that after extracapsular lens removal by anterior capsulotomy in the mouse, the lens can be regenerated. However, as the capsular bag is filled with fibers, epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT), an event which is common after cataract surgery as well, takes place during early stages. This study, using a unique mouse model, was undertaken to identify novel regulators and networks in order to more clearly understand secondary cataracts at the molecular level. METHODS We examined global gene expression via microarray analysis of mouse lens regeneration after extracapsular surgery. Gene expression at different times after surgery was correlated with the processes of EMT, which is seen in the initial stages of regeneration, and lens fiber differentiation, which occurs later. RESULTS Several notable patterns were observed from the gene clustering data. It was obvious from the analysis that initially there is a response to injury, extensive matrix remodeling, and severe downregulation of genes encoding lens structural proteins. The patterns returned gradually to normal three weeks after surgery. New genes were identified from the clustering results that might be potential regulators of EMT and lens differentiation. CONCLUSIONS With this approach, we demonstrated the utility of a mouse model to study secondary cataracts at the molecular level. Extension of these studies in mice with known mutations affecting EMT or lens differentiation should allow the identification of the crucial molecular players that could lead to better treatments of secondary cataracts.
Peering into peering: Building better tools for better peering decisions

Network operators need to assess the effects of routing policies and traffic engineering methods in order to guide planning and operational decisions related to peering. We propose a peering analysis framework based on the correlation of inferred AS paths and traffic flow information. We define the data sets needed and a four-step methodology designed to reduce network data dimensionality, determine traffic proximity, identify traffic propensity, and quantify the impact of traffic locality. We demonstrate how the correlation of traffic flow and AS paths, and the application of our four-step approach, uncovers rich information when applied to a real-world case study of a local Internet service provider.
Degradation of the Cry1Ab protein within transgenic Bacillus thuringiensis corn tissue in the field

Large quantities of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) corn plant residue are left in the field after harvest, which may have implications for the soil ecosystem. Potential impacts on soil organisms will also depend on the persistence of the Bt toxin in plant residues. Therefore, it is important to know how long the toxin persists in plant residues. In two field studies in the temperate corn‐growing region of Switzerland we investigated degradation of the Cry1Ab toxin in transgenic Bt corn leaves during autumn, winter and spring using an enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). In the first field trial, representing a tillage system, no degradation of the Cry1Ab toxin was observed during the first month. During the second month, Cry1Ab toxin concentrations decreased to ≈ 20% of their initial values. During winter, there was no further degradation. When temperatures again increased in spring, the toxin continued to degrade slowly, but could still be detected in June. In the second field trial, representing a no‐tillage system, Cry1Ab toxin concentrations decreased without initial delay as for soil‐incorporated Bt plants, to 38% of the initial concentration during the first 40 days. They then continued to decrease until the end of the trial after 200 days in June, when 0.3% of the initial amount of Cry1Ab toxin was detected. Our results suggest that extended pre‐ and post‐commercial monitoring are necessary to assess the long‐term impact of Bt toxin in transgenic plant residues on soil organisms.
Unreported deaths in pediatric surgery and anesthesia: a national, twenty year report

Introduction. Pediatric perioperative mor-tality is extremely low but it is underre-ported in peer-reviewed journals, making it difficult to understand the magnitude of the problem. The aim of this study was to identify pediatric deaths reported by the mass media over a 20- year period in pedi-atric and non-pediatric hospitals.Materials and methods. The international search engines Google, Yahoo, Bing, and the online archives of major newspapers were searched independently by 3 trained investigators (1st January 1995 to 1st Janu-ary 2015) looking for children (<18 years old) who died in the perioperative period in Italy, excluding obstetrical or neonatal deaths.Results. A total of 51 fatal events were identified with 41 cases (80%) being elec-tive procedures. Most fatal events (31 cases, 61%) occurred in non-specialized hospi-tals, 12 cases (23%) occurred in high-vol-ume non-pediatric hospitals, and 8 cases (16%) in pediatric hospitals. The most fre-quently represented operations were head/neck 21 cases (41%), abdominal 11 cases (21%), and orthopedic surgery 9 cases (18%). The reported causes of death were equally distributed between surgical (25 cases, 49%) and anesthesiological compli-cations. The most common causes of death were hemorrhage (n=11), difficult airway management (n=10), infections (n=6), and allergic reactions (n=4). In 25% of cases (13 cases), the complication resulted in intra-operative death.Conclusion. Our findings suggest that most pediatric deaths reported by mass media occurred in non-pediatric centers during elective surgical procedures (e.g. adenotonsillectomy and appendicectomy), suggesting that referral to large-volume or pediatric hospitals should be preferred. Moreover, one of the most commonly re-ported complications was difficult airway management, confirming that this aspect should have a central role in physician training and practice.
A Model of Dual Stator Winding Induction Machine in case of Stator and Rotor Faults for Diagnosis Purpose

The induction machine is largely used in many fields because of its robustness, its low cost and also its abilities at high speeds. However, this motor happens to present specific faults such as rotor broken bar, rotor eccentricity and/or stator winding turns defects. Some of them can be attenuated by a power segmentation. The main purpose of this paper is thus modelling of a dual stator winding induction machine (DSWIM); this study includes stator inter-turn short circuit and rotor broken bar defects. Simulation and experimental results of this type of induction motor operating under fault demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed model in the monitoring of breakdowns
TW-k-means: Automated two-level variable weighting clustering algorithm for multiview data

This paper proposes TW-k-means, an automated two-level variable weighting clustering algorithm for multiview data, which can simultaneously compute weights for views and individual variables. In this algorithm, a view weight is assigned to each view to identify the compactness of the view and a variable weight is also assigned to each variable in the view to identify the importance of the variable. Both view weights and variable weights are used in the distance function to determine the clusters of objects. In the new algorithm, two additional steps are added to the iterative k-means clustering process to automatically compute the view weights and the variable weights. We used two real-life data sets to investigate the properties of two types of weights in TW-k-means and investigated the difference between the weights of TW-k-means and the weights of the individual variable weighting method. The experiments have revealed the convergence property of the view weights in TW-k-means. We compared TW-k-means with five clustering algorithms on three real-life data sets and the results have shown that the TW-k-means algorithm significantly outperformed the other five clustering algorithms in four evaluation indices.
‘We treat them all the same’: the attitudes, knowledge and practices of staff concerning old/er lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans residents in care homes

ABSTRACT The distinct needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans (LGBT) residents in care homes accommodating older people have been neglected in scholarship. On the basis of a survey of 187 individuals, including service managers and direct care staff, we propose three related arguments. First, whilst employees’ attitudes generally indicate a positive disposition towards LGBT residents, this appears unmatched by the ability to recognise such individuals and knowledge of the issues and policies affecting LGBT people. Statements such as, ‘We don't have any [LGBT residents] at the moment’ and ‘I/we treat them all the same’ were common refrains in responses to open-ended questions. They suggest the working of heteronormativity which could deny sexual and identity difference. Second, failure to recognise the distinct health and social care needs of LGBT residents means that they could be subject to a uniform service, which presumes a heterosexual past and cisgender status (compliance with ascribed gender), which risks compounding inequality and invisibility. Third, LGBT residents could be obliged to depend largely on the goodwill, knowledge and reflexivity of individual staff (including people of faith) to meet care and personal needs, though such qualities were necessary but not sufficient conditions for inclusion and no substitute for collective practices (involving commitment to learn about LGBT issues) that become integral to care homes’ everyday functioning. A collective approach is key to advancing inclusion, implementation of legal rights to self-expression and securing equality through differentiated provision.
Changing Folding and Binding Stability in a Viral Coat Protein: A Comparison between Substitutions Accessible through Mutation and Those Fixed by Natural Selection

Previous studies have shown that most random amino acid substitutions destabilize protein folding (i.e. increase the folding free energy). No analogous studies have been carried out for protein-protein binding. Here we use a structure-based model of the major coat protein in a simple virus, bacteriophage φX174, to estimate the free energy of folding of a single coat protein and binding of five coat proteins within a pentameric unit. We confirm and extend previous work in finding that most accessible substitutions destabilize both protein folding and protein-protein binding. We compare the pool of accessible substitutions with those observed among the φX174-like wild phage and in experimental evolution with φX174. We find that observed substitutions have smaller effects on stability than expected by chance. An analysis of adaptations at high temperatures suggests that selection favors either substitutions with no effect on stability or those that simultaneously stabilize protein folding and slightly destabilize protein binding. We speculate that these mutations might involve adjusting the rate of capsid assembly. At normal laboratory temperature there is little evidence of directional selection. Finally, we show that cumulative changes in stability are highly variable; sometimes they are well beyond the bounds of single substitution changes and sometimes they are not. The variation leads us to conclude that phenotype selection acts on more than just stability. Instances of larger cumulative stability change (never via a single substitution despite their availability) lead us to conclude that selection views stability at a local, not a global, level.
Measures of Arterial Stiffness in Youth With Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes

OBJECTIVE Arterial stiffness occurs early in the atherosclerotic process; however, few data are available concerning risk factors for arterial stiffness in youth with diabetes. We identified factors associated with arterial stiffness in youth with diabetes and assessed the effects of these factors on the relationship between arterial stiffness and diabetes type (type 1 vs. type 2). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A subset of patients from the SEARCH for Diabetes in Youth study with type 1 (n = 535) and type 2 diabetes (n = 60), aged 10–23 years (52% male; 82% non-Hispanic white; diabetes duration 65 ± 49 months) had arterial stiffness, anthropometrics, blood pressure, fasting lipids, and A1C measured. Arterial stiffness was measured by brachial distensibility (brachD), pulse wave velocity (PWV), and augmentation index adjusted to heart rate of 75 beats/min (AI75). RESULTS Youth with type 2 diabetes had worse brachD (5.2 ± 0.9 vs. 6.1 ± 1.2%/mmHg), PWV (6.4 ± 1.3 vs. 5.3 ± 0.8 m/s), and AI75 (6.4 ± 9.9 vs. 2.2 ± 10.2%) than those with type 1 diabetes (P < 0.01 for each). These differences were largely mediated through increased central adiposity and higher blood pressure in youth with type 2 diabetes. We also found a pattern of association of arterial stiffness measures with waist circumference and blood pressure, independent of diabetes type. CONCLUSIONS Youth with type 2 diabetes have worse arterial stiffness than similar youth with type 1 diabetes. Increased central adiposity and blood pressure are associated with measures of arterial stiffness, independent of diabetes type. Whether these findings indicate that youth with type 2 diabetes will be at higher risk for future complications requires longitudinal studies.
Performance estimation of UMTS release 5 IM-subsystem elements

Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is the third generation (3G) mobile communications systems specified by the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and the world-wide 3G Partnership Project (3GPP) within the framework defined by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and known as International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 (IMT-2000). ETSI and 3GPP are introducing UMTS in phases and annual releases. UMTS is a 3G GSM successor standard using the GSM phase 2+ enhanced core networks. Currently, there is an evolution from GSM phase 2+ core network towards the UMTS release 5 multiservice packet network. This process is characterized by creating the Internet Protocol (IP) multimedia core network subsystem (IM-subsystem), which includes elements necessary to support IM services in UMTS. Traffic patterns generated by IM services are different from traditional Poisson models used for circuit switched voice traffic. As a result, network parameters can be underestimated, and a UMTS network planning problem arises. For successful solution of the problem, it is necessary to estimate the performance of IM-subsystem elements. We analyze the performance of the gateway GPRS support node (GGSN) on the basis of the FBM/D/1/W queueing system (FBM - fractional Brownian motion). Submitted results may be applied for the estimation of parameters of UMTS release 5 IM-subsystem elements.
Hyperphagic effects of brainstem ghrelin administration.

The role of ghrelin in feeding control has been addressed from a largely hypothalamic perspective, with little attention directed at ingestive consequences of stimulation of the peptide's receptor, the growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHS-R), in the caudal brainstem. Here, we demonstrate a hyperphagic response to stimulation of GHS-R in the caudal brainstem. Ghrelin (150 pmol) delivered to the third and fourth ventricles significantly and comparably increased cumulative food intake, with maximal response approximately 3 h after injection. The meal patterning effects underlying this hyperphagia were also similar for the two placements (i.e., significant reduction in the time between injection and first-meal onset, an increase in the number of meals taken shortly after the injection, and a trend toward an increase in the average size of the first meals that approached but did not achieve statistical significance). In a separate experiment, ghrelin microinjected unilaterally into the dorsal vagal complex (DVC) significantly increased food intake measured 1.5 and 3 h after treatment. The response was obtained with a 10-pmol dose, establishing the DVC as a site of action with at least comparable sensitivity to that reported for the arcuate nucleus. Taken together, the results affirm a caudal brainstem site of action and recommend further investigation into multisite interactions underlying the modulation of ingestive behavior by ghrelin.
A Hybrid E-institution Model: From the Static to the Dynamic

The formation and operation of the virtual organizations (VO) is to to facilitate resource sharing and problem solving among software and/or human agents. However, due to the selfishness and autonomy of agents, VOs are confronted with the credibility crisis. E-institutions are perfict means to sovle the problems of VO credibility crisis. But how E-institutions facilitate the VO in different stages and what is the E-institutions architecture is still blurred. In this paper, we propose a dynamic hybrid E-institution model to provide assistance to the agent interactions. First, the E-institutions are modelled using static elements to make the agent cooperation trustable and predictable; second, the E-institutions are aslo modelled using dynamic elements, instantiated information; third, the E-institutions are modelled using conditions under which the static elements are translated into instantiated (dynamic) ones. Different conditions serve different E-institution goals and thus make the E-institution dynamic. This paper presents explicitly formal descriptions of the static organization structure, dynamic information and institutional services to different VO stages.
Emerging Mechanistic Insights into AAA Complexes Regulating Proteasomal Degradation

The 26S proteasome is an integral element of the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS) and, as such, responsible for regulated degradation of proteins in eukaryotic cells. It consists of the core particle, which catalyzes the proteolysis of substrates into small peptides, and the regulatory particle, which ensures specificity for a broad range of substrates. The heart of the regulatory particle is an AAA-ATPase unfoldase, which is surrounded by non-ATPase subunits enabling substrate recognition and processing. Cryo-EM-based studies revealed the molecular architecture of the 26S proteasome and its conformational rearrangements, providing insights into substrate recognition, commitment, deubiquitylation and unfolding. The cytosol proteasomal degradation of polyubiquitylated substrates is tuned by various associating cofactors, including deubiquitylating enzymes, ubiquitin ligases, shuttling ubiquitin receptors and the AAA-ATPase Cdc48/p97. Cdc48/p97 and its cofactors function upstream of the 26S proteasome, and their modular organization exhibits some striking analogies to the regulatory particle. In archaea PAN, the closest regulatory particle homolog and Cdc48 even have overlapping functions, underscoring their intricate relationship. Here, we review recent insights into the structure and dynamics of the 26S proteasome and its associated machinery, as well as our current structural knowledge on the Cdc48/p97 and its cofactors that function in the ubiquitin-proteasome system (UPS).
Developments in the Ethology of Law

In a development parallel to the emergence of the biobehavioral orientation in political science, the ethology of law has become a prominent endeavor in the past ten years. That it is indeed a biobehavioral approach is a fact that received a cogent reminder at the Fifth International Conference on Human Ethology in Tutzing, West Germany, in 1986. In a major address at the conference, Irenaus Eibl-Eibesfeldt defined human ethology as the biology of human behavior. Correspondingly, Wolfgang Fikentscher and Hagen Hof, in their respective presentations at the session on the ethology of law at the conference, emphasized that law is a particular form of human behavior, making it clear that the biobehavioral context for the study of law is imperative.
Scaling Agile Scrum Software Development: Providing Agility and Quality to Platform Development by Reducing Time to Market

Agile software development approach aims at overcoming the limitations of plan-driven software development by allowing requirement changes during all phases of product development and providing agility to organization to respond to changing market needs. Software organizations have successfully implemented agile scrum in distributed software development. However, they also encountered many challenges while implementation which led to considerable amount of effort spend just to manage work. Difficulties were primarily in the areas of communication, culture, different time zones, different level of domain know how across scrum teams, and knowledge management. In this practice paper, we will share practices and systems implemented, challenges encountered along with their countermeasures, and lessons learnt in successfully scaling the Agile Scrum development to 16 globally distributed scrum teams with 100+ team members, successfully delivering 2000+ user stories which required execution of 3000+ product test cases and 1000+ system test cases for verification and validation in a single version of platform release Providing Agility and Quality to Platform Development by Reducing Time to Market.