Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Quantitative Assessment of Optical Properties in Healthy Cartilage and Repair Tissue by Optical Coherence Tomography and Histology

Quantification of the OCT signal is an important step toward clinical implementation of a diagnostic tool in cartilage imaging. Discrimination of structural cartilage differences in patients with osteoarthritis is critical, yet challenging. This study assesses the variation in the optical attenuation coefficient (μOCT) between healthy cartilage, repair tissue, bone, and layers within repair tissue in a controlled setting. OCT and histology were used to assess goat talus articular surfaces in which central osteochondral defects were created. Exact matches of OCT and histology were selected for research. μOCT measurements were taken from healthy cartilage, repair tissue, and bone. Measured μOCT in healthy cartilage was higher compared to both repair tissue and bone tissue. Two possible mechanisms for the difference in attenuation were investigated. We studied morphological parameters in terms of nucleus count, nucleus size, and inter-nucleus distance. Collagen content in healthy cartilage and repair tissue was assessed using polarization microscopy. Quantitative analysis of the nuclei did not demonstrate a difference in nucleus size and nucleus count between healthy cartilage and repair tissue. In healthy cartilage, cells were spaced farther apart and had a lower variation in local nuclear density compared to the repair tissue. Polarization microscopy suggested higher collagen content in the healthy cartilage compared to the repair tissue. μOCT measurements can distinguish between healthy cartilage, repair tissue, and bone. Results suggest that cartilage OCT attenuation measurements could be of great impact in clinical diagnostics of osteoarthritis.
Experimental Study of Pumping of Liquid Film With Electric Conduction Phenomenon

In electrohydrodynamics (EHD) conduction pumping, Coulomb force is the main driving force for fluid motion. The process of dissociation and recombination of electrolytic species produces heterocharge layers in the vicinity of electrodes. Asymmetric electrodes are used to arrange heterocharge layers to induce net motion in fluid. In this paper, EHD conduction pumping is experimentally studied with stratified liquid film in a channel. Liquid flow rate and the generated pressure are measured for different applied voltages and liquid film heights. Two different designs of electrode pairs, including flushed electrodes having virtually no drag force, are considered in this paper. Liquid pumping using EHD conduction phenomenon is significant for heat transfer and mass transport in thermal equipment of macro- and microsizes, in the presence and absence of gravity. This is particularly true for nonmechanical pumping of liquid film in phase change equipment.
Three Essays on Education Investments

To my mother, my father, and my brother. Acknowledgements I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor, Prof. Leo Kaas who inspired me to pursue a PhD. I am grateful for his comments and critics, which provided me countless helpful insights, and particularly for his constant support and guidance throughout my PhD study. I am also thankful to my second supervisor, Prof. Bernd Genser, for his valuable support and insightful comments on my work. Special thanks go to my fellow colleagues at the Chair of Economic Theory, namely, for providing a stimulating and pleasant working environment in Strasbourg. Many thanks also go to Monique Flasaquier for her time to edit my writing. It would have been impossible for me to accomplish this dissertation without encouragements and continuous support from my mother, my father and my brother. I cannot be thankful enough to them. The success of this work is also attributed to Walliya for her solid emotional support and inspiration. I would like to share the credit of my work with her as well. Finally, the Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts of the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg has provided me with scholarship funding. I also acknowledge Research mobility allowance from the German-French University during my visit at the University of Strasbourg.
A study of innovation diffusion through link sharing on stack overflow

It is poorly understood how developers discover and adopt software development innovations such as tools, libraries, frameworks, or web sites that support developers. Yet, being aware of and choosing appropriate tools and components can have a significant impact on the outcome of a software project. In our study, we investigate link sharing on Stack Overflow to gain insights into how software developers discover and disseminate innovations. We find that link sharing is a significant phenomenon on Stack Overflow, that Stack Overflow is an important resource for software development innovation dissemination and that its part of a larger interconnected network of online resources used and referenced by developers. This knowledge can guide researchers and practitioners who build tools and services that support software developers in the exploration, discovery, and adoption of software development innovations.
Contextual Word Embedding: A Case Study in Clustering Tweets about Emergency Situations

Effective clustering of short documents, such as tweets, is difficult because of the lack of sufficient semantic context. Word embedding is a technique that is effective in addressing this lack of semantic context. However, the process of word vector embedding, in turn, relies on the availability of sufficient contexts to learn the word associations. To get around this problem, we propose a novel word vector training approach that leverages topically similar tweets to better learn the word associations. We test our proposed word embedding approach by clustering a collection of tweets on disasters. We observe that the proposed method improves clustering effectiveness by up to 14%.
Description of three species of Eurypon Gray, 1867 (Raspailiidae: Demospongiae: Porifera) from the Western Atlantic and a name to replace the the secondary homonym Eurypon topsenti.

Eurypon Gray, 1867 comprises 49 valid species distributed worldwide, and in an extensive bathymetric range. Three Eurypon species are known for Brazil, all endemic from the Northeast region. Here, we describe three new species of Eurypon. Two of which are recorded from shallow waters (down to 100 m) off Pernambuco and Paraíba States, and one species is from deep waters (157 m) off Rio Grande do Norte State. Eurypon oxychaetum sp. nov. has large subtylostyles (1025-2125 µm, length), styles, two categories of acanthostyles and oxychaetes; Eurypon potiguaris sp. nov. has large tylostyles (1000-2315 µm, length), two categories of acanthostyles, and thin oxeas; Eurypon verticillatum sp. nov. is a blue sponge with exclusive verticillate acanthostyles. The new species were compared with all other Atlantic species of the genus. A replacement name for the secondary homonym Eurypon topsenti is proposed: Eurypon pulitzeri nom. nov. The presence of verticillate acanthostyles and oxychaetes spicules are reported for the first time in Table 1 genus.
Identification of Differentially Expressed Transcripts in Ovule Development During Free Nuclear Mitosis in Pinus tabulaeformis Carr

Ovule development is an important step in the life cycle of sexually reproducing organism. In Pinus tabulaeformis, within the ovule, the female gametophyte undergoes dozens of syncytial mitotic divisions, followed by cellularization to form archegonium. However, at the stage of free nuclear mitosis of female gametophyte, the molecular mechanism is still unknown. In the present study, suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) was used to identify rare and differentially expressed transcripts in developing (fertile clone, FC) and aborted (sterile clone, SC) P. tabulaeformis ovules. Both forward and reverse SSH libraries were constructed, and756 clones were randomly selected from the libraries and sequenced, yielding valid expressed sequenced tags (ESTs) ranging from 105 bp to 763 bp. Out of them, 233 ESTs from FC and 197 ESTs from SC SSH libraries showed high similarity to BLAST hits, and 336 (47.9%) proteins were annotated to gene ontology (GO) terms. The putative functions of differentially expressed transcripts were involved in most aspects of biological processes. The reliability of SSH libraries and expression patterns of 10 differentially expressed transcripts were confirmed by real-time quantitative PCR. We identified hundreds of differentially expressed transcripts mainly involved in cellular processes, other metabolism, developmental processes and protein metabolism. Furthermore, 27 candidate genes were focused, which might be responsible for mitotic progression, phytohormone regulation and defense response during ovule development. Taken together, this study provides transcriptional information on ovule development in P. tabulaeformis, offers a group of potential developmental-related regulators and poses hypothesis for the abortion of P. tabulaeformis ovules. © 2018 Friends Science
A Study on the Performance of Web Applications Based on RoR in a Highly Consolidated Server with Container-Based Virtualization

Virtualization technologies which can flexibly allocate computational resources are widely deployed for a variety of purposes. In particular, Docker, which is one of the most popular container-based virtualization systems, is increasing its importance because of its low virtualizing overhead by sharing the kernel. In this paper, we present a performance evaluation of web applications based on Ruby on Rails (RoR) consolidated by Docker. First, we investigate the relation between the number of containers and their performance. Second, we show the issues of highly consolidating servers. Third, we discuss a method for relieving the issues
Optimized authenticated self-synchronizing Byzantine agreement protocols

In order to make a dependable distributed computer system resilient to arbitrary failures of its processors, deterministic Byzantine agreement protocols (BAPs) can be applied. Many BAPs found in literature require that communication takes place in synchronized rounds of information exchange and require that all correct processors know the start of the BAP and start the protocol simultaneously It is hard to satisfy either or both requirements in a distributed system. As a consequence, it is hard to implement the above BAPs in a distributed system. Authenticated self-synchronizing BAPs evade this problem by guaranteeing Byzantine Agreement while allowing arbitrary clock skew between the clocks of the processors and not requiring correct processors to know the start of the BAP. However, authenticated self-synchronizing BAPs require much communication overhead. Therefore, in this paper, we introduce so-called optimized authenticated self-synchronizing BAPs, that require fewer messages than the existing authenticated self-synchronizing BAPs.
Conventional and spiral CT dose indices in Yazd general hospitals, Iran

Background: While the benefits of Computed Tomography (CT) are well known in accurate diagnosis, those benefits are not risk free. CT is a device with higher patient dose in comparison with other conventional radiological procedures. Is the reduction of exposures by requiring optimization of CT procedures [a principle concern in radiological protection]? In this study, the radiation dose of conventional and spiral CT were investigated and compared with European Commission Reference Dose Levels (EC RDLs) Materials and Methods: The dosimetric quantities proposed in the European Guidelines (EG) for CT are Weighted Computed Tomography Dose Index (CTDIW) for a single slice for axial scanning or per rotation for helical scanning and Dose-Length Product (DLP) for a complete examination. The patient-related data were collected for brain, neck, chest, abdomen and pelvis examinations in each scanner. For each type of examination, 10 typical patients were randomly included. CTDI with an active length of 10cm was measured in two CT scanners by using UNFORS (MultO-Meter 601) in head and body phantom (PMMA) with 16 cm and 32 cm in diameter; respectively. Mean values of CTDIW, DLP and Effective Dose(ED) were estimated for those examinations. Results: CTDIW had a range of 15.8-24.7 mGy for brain, 16.1-30.6mGy for neck, 6.8-9.2 mGy for chest, 6.8-9.8 mGy for abdomen and pelvis. DLP had a range of 246.4-397.7 mGy.cm for brain, 104.6-262.2 mGy.cm for neck, 135248.4 mGy.cm for chest, 187-298.9 mGy.cm for abdomen and 197.2-319.4 mGy.cm for pelvis. The mean values of effective dose were 0.70 mSv for brain, 1 mSv for neck, 3.2 mSv for chest, 3.3 mSv for abdomen and 5.1 mSv for pelvis. Conclusion: The obtained results in this study have shown that CTDIW and DLP are lower than EC RDLs and other studies, in other words, the performance of all scanners has been satisfactory as far as CTDIw and DLP are concerned. The CTDIW and DLP in the conventional CT are higher than the spiral CT values. With regard to ALARA principle, for the establishment of reference dose levels, the radiation dose with spiral CT scanners should be taken into account. Iran. J. Radiat. Res., 2006; 3 (4): 183-189
Psychoacoustics Survey Results: Psychological Factors Affecting Noise Distraction

With this paper we will address the psychoacoustics in office environments, exploring how factors such as personality impact on the perception of noise and affects distraction from noise in the office. We will present results from an on-line survey that was conducted to test the hypotheses generated by the literature review conducted by Oseland and Hodsman. The primary objective of the survey was to test whether personality types, in particular extroversion, affect noise perception and distraction. The survey explored the relationship between noise distraction metrics and key variables such as personality, work activities, primary workplace, acoustic design, the ability to screen noise and demographics. We received 516 valid responses, providing a valid sample size for analysis. The survey included 44 sub-questions used to determine the respondents’ personality profile on the Big Five Inventory (BFI), also known as OCEAN, as it determines the strength of five personality factors: Openness, Conscientiousness, Extroversion, Agreeableness and Neuroticism. The respondents were subgrouped into three categories, on each personality factor, to represent those with low, medium and high scores relative to the other respondents. When asked how noise affects the ability to work, three-quarters of our respondents reported that they are negatively affected by the noise in their workplace.
Interactions between Party and Legislative Quotas: Candidate Selection and Quota Compliance in Portugal and Spain

About two decades after the introduction of party quotas, in the mid-2000s both Portugal and Spain enacted legislative gender quotas. The simultaneous implementation of party and legislative quotas raises questions about the potential interactions between two types of candidate quotas sharing the same goal – granting gender equality in political representation. Following a feminist institutionalist approach, this article aims at disentangling under what circumstances compliance with legislative quotas is greater. By looking at the different party institutional contexts in which candidates are selected, a double comparative framework is set. Firstly, we examine within country how legislative quotas affect political parties with dissimilar strategies to pursue equal gender representation. Secondly, we analyse across countries how they impact on political parties with differently institutionalized voluntary quotas. The article shows that legislative quotas are nested in political parties’ candidate selection process and that existing gendered practices and norms limit the effective compliance with such measures.
Repetition counts: repeated exposure increases intake of a novel vegetable in UK pre-school children compared to flavour–flavour and flavour–nutrient learning

Children are not consuming sufficient amounts of fruits and vegetables in their habitual diet. Methods derived from associative learning theories could be effective at promoting vegetable intake in pre-school children. The objective of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of different learning strategies in promoting the intake of a novel vegetable. Children aged between 9 and 38 months were recruited from UK nurseries. The children (n 72) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions (repeated exposure, flavour–flavour learning or flavour–nutrient learning). Each child was offered ten exposures to their respective version of a novel vegetable (artichoke). Pre- and post-intervention measures of artichoke purée and carrot purée (control vegetable) intake were taken. At pre-intervention, carrot intake was significantly higher than artichoke intake (P< 0·05). Intake of both vegetables increased over time (P< 0·001); however, when changes in intake were investigated, artichoke intake increased significantly more than carrot intake (P< 0·001). Artichoke intake increased to the same extent in all three conditions, and this effect was persistent up to 5 weeks post-intervention. Five exposures were sufficient to increase intake compared to the first exposure (P< 0·001). Repeated exposure to three variants of a novel vegetable was sufficient to increase intake of this vegetable, regardless of the addition of a familiar taste or energy. Repetition is therefore a critical factor for promoting novel vegetable intake in pre-school children.
Robust segmentation of tubular structures in medical images

Segmentation of blood vessels is a challenging problem due to poor contrast, noise, and specifics of vessels' branching and bending geometry. This paper describes a robust semi-automatic approach to extract the surface between two or more user-supplied end points for tubular- or vessel-like structures. We first use a minimal path technique to extract the shortest path between the user-supplied points. This path is the global minimizer of an active contour model's energy along all possible paths joining the end-points. Subsequently, the surface of interest is extracted using an edge-based level set segmentation approach. To prevent leakage into adjacent tissues, the algorithm uses a diameter constraint that does not allow the moving front to grow wider than the predefined diameter. Points constituting the extracted path(s) are automatically used as initialization seeds for the evolving level set function. To cope with any further leaks that may occur in the case of large variations of the vessel width between the user-supplied end-points, a freezing mechanism is designed to prevent the moving front to leak into undesired areas. The regions to be frozen are determined from few clicks by the user. The potential of the proposed approach is demonstrated on several synthetic and real images.
It is better when expected: aligning speech and motor rhythms enhances verbal processing

ABSTRACT Rhythm is a powerful way to shape the processing of complex sounds such as speech or music by generating temporal expectancies in the listener. Here, we investigated if multisensory expectancies generated by aligning speech and motor rhythms may enhance verbal processing. Participants listened to rhythmically regular German sentences and detected word changes occurring on stressed or unstressed syllables. Participants were cued to produce finger taps simultaneously with the auditory speech rhythm. Finger taps were aligned or misaligned with stressed syllables. Detection of word changes was facilitated when manual movements were temporally aligned with the auditory speech rhythm. Moreover, motor alignment enhanced sensitivity to detect changes on stressed syllables compared to a perceptual control condition. Thus, rhythmic speech structure reinforced by concurrent movement in multisensory contexts has beneficial effects on verbal processing. This finding lends support to models of expectancy-driven speech processing.
Purpose and benefits of hybrid simulation: Contributing to the convergence of its definition

There is a growing trend in the number of M&S studies that report on the use of Hybrid Simulation. However, the meaning and the usage of the term varies considerably. Indeed, the hybrid simulation panel during last year's conference (WSC2016) laid bare the strong views, from the panelists and audience alike, as to what constitutes a hybrid model and what is new? The ensuing debate set the scene for this year's paper, in which we discuss the various perspectives on hybrid simulation by focusing on three aspects: its definition, its purpose and its benefits. We hope this paper will pave the way for further studies on this subject, with the objective of achieving a convergence of the definition of hybrid simulation.
On a conjecture about a class of optimal ternary cyclic codes

Cyclic codes are an important class of linear codes and have been widely used in many areas such as consumer electronics, data storage and communication systems. Let C<sub>(1,e)</sub> denote the cyclic code with generator polynomial m<sub>α</sub>(x)m<sub>α</sub>e (x), where α is a primitive element of F<sub>3m</sub> and m<sub>α</sub>i (x) denotes the minimal polynomial of <sub>α</sub>i over F<sub>3</sub> for 1 ≤ i ≤ 3m-1. In this paper, through some subtle manipulation on solving certain equations over finite fields, a conjecture proposed by Ding and Helleseth in 2013 about a class of optimal ternary cyclic codes C<sub>(1,e)</sub> for e = 2(1+3<sup>h</sup>) with parameters [3<sup>m</sup> -1, 3<sup>m</sup>-1-2m, 4] is settled, where m > 1 is an odd integer and 0 ≤ h ≤ m-1.
1 Probing the charged Higgs boson at the LHC in the CP-violating type-II 2 HDM 71 J H E P 1 1 ( 2 0 1 2 ) 0 1 1

We present a phenomenological study of a CP-violating two-Higgs-doublet Model with type-II Yukawa couplings at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC). In the light of recent LHC data, we focus on the parameter space that survives the current and past experimental constraints as well as theoretical bounds on the model. Once the phenomenological scenario is set, we analyse the scope of the LHC in exploring this model through the discovery of a charged Higgs boson produced in association with a W boson, with the former decaying into the lightest neutral Higgs and a second W state, altogether yielding a bb̄WW signature, of which we exploit the WW semileptonic decays.
Importance of solvent accessibility and contact surfaces in modeling side‐chain conformations in proteins

Contact surface area and chemical properties of atoms are used to concurrently predict conformations of multiple amino acid side chains on a fixed protein backbone. The combination of surface complementarity and solvent‐accessible surface accounts for van der Waals forces and solvation free energy. The scoring function is particularly suitable for modeling partially buried side chains. Both iterative and stochastic searching approaches are used. Our programs (Sccomp‐I and Sccomp‐S), with relatively fast execution times, correctly predict χ1 angles for 92–93% of buried residues and 82–84% for all residues, with an RMSD of ∼1.7 Å for side chain heavy atoms. We find that the differential between the atomic solvation parameters and the contact surface parameters (including those between noncomplementary atoms) is positive; i.e., most protein atoms prefer surface contact with other protein atoms rather than with the solvent. This might correspond to the driving force for maximizing packing of the protein. The influence of the crystal packing, completeness of rotamer library and precise positioning of Cβ atoms on the accuracy of side‐chain prediction are examined. The Sccomp‐S and Sccomp‐I programs can be accessed through the Web (http://sgedg.weizmann.ac.il/sccomp.html) and are available for several platforms. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem 25: 712–724, 2004