Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Total Jensen divergences: Definition, properties and clustering

We present a novel class of divergences induced by a smooth convex function called total Jensen divergences that are invariant by construction to rotations, a feature inducing a conformal factor on ordinary Jensen divergences. We analyze the relationships between this novel class of total Jensen divergences and the total Bregman divergences. We then define total Jensen centroids, analyze their robustness, and prove that the k-means++ initialization that bypasses explicit centroid computations is good enough in practice to guarantee probabilistically a constant approximation factor to the optimal k-means clustering.
Comparative Evaluation of Frictional Forces of Conventional and Self-ligating Bracket Systems: An in vitro Study

Introduction: Among the numerous factors affecting friction between the bracket-archwire interface, the method of ligation is one of the most important. A number of ways have been proposed to reduce this friction, including self-ligating brackets and more recently Slide™ (Leone SpA, Firenze, Italy) low-friction ligatures. Aim: This study aims to compare the frictional forces generated by three different ligation methods; conventional ligation, self-ligation and slide low-friction ligation, using metallic and ceramic brackets. Materials and methods: Three models with ten aligned brackets (standard, self-ligating and ceramic) were used with conventional and low-friction ligatures to study the frictional resistance generated with 0.016" nitinol and 0.019" × 0.025" stainless steel wires. Results: Conventional ligation produced the greatest friction regardless of wire or bracket combination used. With smaller round wires, the selfligating system exhibited less friction than low-friction ligation and with higher dimension archwires it exhibited greater friction. Slide low-friction ligatures were able to reduce the friction of ceramic brackets in a similar way to stainless steel brackets.
Fluorescence microscopy point spread function model accounting for aberrations due to refractive index variability within a specimen

Abstract. A three-dimensional (3-D) point spread function (PSF) model for wide-field fluorescence microscopy, suitable for imaging samples with variable refractive index (RI) in multilayered media, is presented. This PSF model is a key component for accurate 3-D image restoration of thick biological samples, such as lung tissue. Microscope- and specimen-derived parameters are combined with a rigorous vectorial formulation to obtain a new PSF model that accounts for additional aberrations due to specimen RI variability. Experimental evaluation and verification of the PSF model was accomplished using images from 175-nm fluorescent beads in a controlled test sample. Fundamental experimental validation of the advantage of using improved PSFs in depth-variant restoration was accomplished by restoring experimental data from beads (6 μm in diameter) mounted in a sample with RI variation. In the investigated study, improvement in restoration accuracy in the range of 18 to 35% was observed when PSFs from the proposed model were used over restoration using PSFs from an existing model. The new PSF model was further validated by showing that its prediction compares to an experimental PSF (determined from 175-nm beads located below a thick rat lung slice) with a 42% improved accuracy over the current PSF model prediction.
A Transmit Preprocessing Technique for Downlink Multi-User MIMO System Using Subspace Decomposition Approach

Based on the research on architecture of multi-user MIMO channel, we introduce the concept of accompanying subspace of the channel, and conclude several linear methods into the problem that how to produce preceding matrix on this subspace. And we provide an iterative algorithm to get optimal solution on this subspace based on the criterion of maximum channel capacity. By computer simulation, we analyze the performance of our algorithm and compare it with other methods. Results show that our method has good performance: (1) Compared with channel inversion and block diagonalization, it greatly increases outage capacity, especially when Pout is small; (2) Ergodic capacity grows linearly with the increase of the number of transmitting antennas, and is much bigger than that of other methods; (3) It can better deal with near-far effect and keep spatial division multiplexing gain.
Broadband Stacked Coplanar Patch Antennas

This paper presented broadband stacked coplanar patch antennas. The antennas were designed based on the stacked patch technique developed for microstrip patch antennas, in which the lower patch is a coplanar patch and is fed by a conductor-backed coplanar waveguide, and the upper patch is a microstrip patch. Simulated and measured results demonstrated that the antennas have the bandwidth of 12% (at ¿10 dB return loss), the largest gain of 6.4 dBi, and a good symmetrical radiation pattern.
Association of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms in the Lens Epithelium-Derived Growth Factor (LEDGF/p75) with HIV-1 Infection Outcomes in Brazilian HIV-1+ Individuals

The lens epithelium-derived growth factor p75 (LEDGF/p75), coded by the PSIP1 gene, is an important host co-factor that interacts with HIV-1 integrase to target integration of viral cDNA into active genes. The aim of this study was to investigate the association of SNPs in the PSIP1 gene with disease outcome in HIV-1 infected patients. We performed a genetic association study in a cohort of 171 HIV-1 seropositive Brazilian individuals classified as rapid progressors (RP, n = 69), typical progressors (TP, n = 79) and long-term nonprogressors (LTNP, n = 23). The exonic SNP rs61744944 and 9 tag SNPs were genotyped. A group of 192 healthy subjects was analyzed to determine the frequency of SNPs and haplotypes in the general population. Linkage disequilibrium (LD) analyses indicated that the SNPs analyzed were not in high LD (r2<0.8). Logistic regression models suggested that patients carrying the T allele rs61744944 (472L) were more likely to develop a LTNP phenotype (OR = 4.98; p = 0.05) as compared to TP group. The same trend was observed when LTNPs were compared to the RP group (OR = 3.26). Results of haplotype analyses reinforced this association, since the OR values obtained for the haplotype carrying allele T at rs61744944 also reflected an association with LTNP status (OR = 6.05; p = 0.08 and OR = 3.44; p = 0.12 for comparisons to TP and RP, respectively). The rare missense variations Ile436Ser and Thr473Ile were not identified in the patients enrolled in this study. Gene expression analyses showed lower LEDGF/p75 mRNA levels in peripheral blood mononuclear cells obtained from HIV-1 infected individuals. However, these levels were not influenced by any of the SNPs investigated. In spite of the limited number of LTNPs, these data suggest that the PSIP1 gene could be associated with the outcome of HIV-1 infection. Further analyses of this gene may guide the identification of causative variants to help predict disease course.
New constructs and strategies for efficient PCR‐based gene manipulations in yeast

Gene disruption and tagging can be achieved by homologous recombination in the yeast genome. Several PCR‐based methods have been described towards this end. However these strategies are often limited in their applications and/or their efficiencies and may be technically demanding. Here we describe two plasmids for C‐terminal tagging of proteins with the IgG binding domain of the Staphyloccocus aureus protein A. We also present simple and reliable strategies based on PCR to promote efficient integration of exogenous DNA into the yeast genome. These simple methods are not limited to specific strains or markers and can be used for any application requiring homologous recombination such as gene disruption and epitope tagging. These strategies can be used for consecutive introduction of various constructs into a single yeast strain. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Severe Cases of Pandemic (H1N1) 2009 in Children, Germany

In a hospital-based observational study in Germany, we investigated children admitted to pediatric intensive care units and deaths caused by confirmed pandemic (H1N1) 2009 to identify risk factors and outcomes in critically ill children. Ninety-three children were eligible for our study, including 9 with hospital-acquired infections. Seventy-five percent had underlying chronic medical conditions; neurodevelopmental disorders were most prevalent (57%). The proportion of patients having >1 risk factor increased with age in years (odds ratio 1.21, p = 0.007). Of 15 deaths, 11 occurred in a pediatric intensive care unit (case-fatality rate 12%, 95% confidence interval 6%–21%). Only 9% of the children had been vaccinated against pandemic (H1N1) 2009; all survived. Our results stress the role of underlying risk factors, especially neurodevelopmental disorders, and the need for improving preventive measures to reduce severe disease and adverse outcomes of pandemic (H1N1) 2009 in children.
FPGA minimal components SKAN model for classical and operant conditioning

We show how a minimal components requirement and very low resource demanding field-programmable gate array (FPGA) implementation of an adapted version of the synapto-dendritic Kernel Adapting Neuron (SKAN) model can be used to underlie two of the most basic learning processes: classical conditioning (CC) and operant conditioning (OC). In the CC architecture, this adapted SKAN model is used in a spiking neural network (SNN) to implement spike-timing-dependant-plasticity (STDP). However, in order to achieve a functioning OC architecture, a new STDP-inspired learning process is introduced. The modified CC architecture, new OC architecture, adapted SKAN model and new STDP-inspired process represent the four contributions presented here, along with simulation results on a FPGA which shows their adequacy in supporting CC and OC learning behaviors.
Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres Moisture Distributions in Tropical Cold Pools From Equatorial Indian Ocean Observations and Cloud-Resolving Simulations

The near-surface characteristics of approximately 300 convective cold pools over the equatorial Indian Ocean are studied using surface meteorological variables from two equatorial Indian Ocean sites, radar imagery, and constrained cloud-resolving simulations. The observed temperature drop at cold pool onset is typically accompanied by a drying and a decrease in moist static energy, signifying air transport from above the boundary layer through precipitation-induced downdrafts. The decrease in the surface water vapor mixing ratio is more pronounced for stronger temperature drops. Composites reveal a slight enhancement in moisture coincident with a slight enhancement in temperature prior to the cold pool frontal temperature drop. The slight enhancements occur prior to a gust of increased surface winds, suggesting that the immediate cause is wind convergence. A statistical analysis combined with a focus on selected case studies is consistent with a view that the strongest cold pools occur in intermediate column water vapor paths with drier midtropospheres. Such conditions are more likely to occur during convectively suppressed phases of the Madden-Julian Oscillation, when cold pool mesoscale organization facilitates the ability of cumulus congestus to reach the middle troposphere. Cold pools thus help explain why tropical cumulus congestus are common. Cloud-resolving simulations capture realistic rain rates and surface wind changes (and thereby surface ﬂuxes). The evolution in the model near-surface moisture ﬁeld is unrealistic, however, with an erroneous moisture enhancement inside the cold pool edge that is attributed to rain evaporation. This supports a further focus on the model representation of cold pool frontal dynamics and mixing. move along the surface because it is denser and cause new raining clouds to form. They help modify the types of clouds and convection present over the tropical oceans, and their depiction in climate models may help improve climate model simulations of tropical climate. In this study we use observations of cold pools, combined with radar imagery, to conﬁrm that cold pools are more pronounced when the middle of the atmosphere, between 2 and 5 km, is also drier. Cold pools, because they help support updrafts, can also help explain why seemingly isolated clouds reaching ∼ 5 km, are relatively common in the Tropics. Modeling simulations have instead focused on how anomalous moisture near the surface from previous convection, through, for example, rain evaporation, may spawn more convection. We ﬁnd that in one cloud-resolving simulation, the rain evaporation is too much, leading to an unrealistic moisture distribution. This may explain why to date the understanding of cold pool processes through models and observations have not always agreed.
Human-moderated remote user testing : An empirical evaluation

In the past, remote user testing has offered promising results when compared to its local counterpart. Nonetheless, the comparison studies conducted insofar have relied on small independent samples, measuring key metrics and have not focused on the qualitative objectives of user testing. The current study addresses these issues in order to reinforce the efficiency of the remote method in the key metrics but to also examine its ability to reveal qualitative data. Mainly, our data suggests that remote user testing requires more time to complete, remote users adhere more strictly to the think aloud protocol application and online post-test questionnaires yield higher quantity and quality responses. In addition to attaining the previous two objectives, our analysis also accounts for the effect of website difficulty during user testing. Our results indicate that remote and local user testing yield similar results during the assessment of an easy or difficult website.
A data-driven approach for real-time clothes simulation

A data-driven approach for real-time processing of clothes, particularly suitable for simulating dresses worn by virtual characters, is proposed. It starts, prior to realtime simulation, by analyzing cloth behavior in relation to the underlying skeleton movement from a pre-simulated sequence of the cloth obtained using any high quality offline simulators. The idea is to use this analysis to find an optimal combination of physics-based simulation and geometric approximation of the simulator; potentially colliding regions are defined on the cloth such that they will hold true for the skeleton movement that closely matches that of pre-simulated sequence. At runtime, using these analyses, our simulation process provides both visually pleasing results and performance, as long as the motion of the character remains sufficiently close to the original sequence used for the pre-computation. The key contributions of this paper are (1) efficient collision handling that prunes out potentially colliding objects by using the off-line simulation sequence as examples; (2) data-driven fix-up process for the coarse mesh simulation that deduces the gross behavior of the cloth; and (3) geometric approximation of the fine mesh deformation, responsible for details in the shape of the cloth such as wrinkles.
Sperm velocity and longevity trade off each other and influence fertilization in the sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus

The theoretical prediction that fast sperm should be more effective at fertilizing eggs has never been documented empirically. Interspecific comparisons suggest an inverse relationship between sperm velocity and sperm longevity, but this trade–off has never been demonstrated within a species. Here I investigate how sperm velocity and sperm longevity influence the patterns of fertilization in the sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus. In the laboratory, I examined 11 male–female pairs of sea urchins for variation in sperm velocity and sperm longevity, and determined the correlations of these traits with the percentage of eggs fertilized with serially diluted sperm. Males with faster sperm had higher rates of fertilization than males with slower sperm. Within individual males, as sperm aged they slowed down and showed a reduced percentage activity and lower rates of fertilization. Across males, the average velocity of freshly spawned sperm was inversely related to sperm longevity. These results establish the possibility that sperm traits are adapted for varying conditions along a continuum from sperm limitation to sperm competition.
Research on operation standard expert system based on ontology and CBR

In order to effectively support formal representation and reuse of operation standard knowledge, a new operation standard expert system called OS expert system, has been developed based on the integration of ontology and case-based reasoning (CBR). This paper emphatically introduces operation standard ontology, case representation model, case retrieval model and case revision model. Through importing ontology theory into CBR, users can describe cases using any concept or instance of operation standard ontology, which is easier to retrieve and revise cases on the semantic level. The experimental results show that compared with the traditional CBR system, OS expert system has better recall and precision, and it increases the efficiency of establishing operation standard.
Angiotensin II–Converting Enzyme Inhibition Improves Survival, Ventricular Remodeling, and Myocardial Energetics in Experimental Aortic Regurgitation

Background—Aortic valve regurgitation (AR) is a volume-overload disease causing severe eccentric left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy and eventually heart failure. There is currently no approved drug to treat patients with AR. Many vasodilators including angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors have been evaluated in clinical trials, but although some results were promising, others were inconclusive. Overall, no drug has yet been able to improve clinical outcome in AR and the controversy remains. We have previously shown in an animal model that captopril (Cpt) reduced LV hypertrophy and protected LV systolic function, but we had not evaluated the clinical outcome. This protocol was designed to evaluate the effects of a long-term Cpt treatment on survival in the same animal model of severe aortic valve regurgitation. Methods and Results—Forty Wistar rats with AR were treated or untreated with Cpt (1 g/L in drinking water) for a period of 7 months to evaluate survival, myocardial remodeling, and function by echocardiography as well as myocardial metabolism by µ positron emission tomography scan. Survival was significantly improved in Cpt-treated animals with a survival benefit visible as soon as after 4 months of treatment. Cpt reduced LV dilatation and LV hypertrophy. It also significantly improved the myocardial metabolic profile by restoring the level of fatty acids metabolic enzymes and use. Conclusions—In a controlled animal model of pure severe aortic valve regurgitation, Cpt treatment reduced LV remodeling and LV hypertrophy and improved myocardial metabolic profile and survival. These results support the need to reevaluate the role of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors in humans with AR in a large, carefully designed prospective clinical trial.
Prevalence of signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders in children and adolescents with and without crossbites.

This study investigated the prevalence of signs and symptoms of temporomandibular disorders (TMD) in 1,134 orthodontically untreated children and adolescents (593 boys, 541 girls; age range 5 to 15 years) with and without crossbites. The sample with crossbites was further grouped according to the type (anterior, posterior, unilateral, or bilateral). The TMD symptoms bruxism (obvious active attrition/myalgia), joint sounds (clicking/crepitation), deviation during opening, reduced functional movements (maximum opening <40 mm), and myopain (originating in the masticatory muscles/related to masticatory functions) were evaluated based on the standardized RDC/TMD protocol (Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorders) and compared among the various groups. Girls had a significantly higher prevalence of myopain than boys (x(2)=3.882, P<. 05). Furthermore, individuals with posterior unilateral crossbites showed a significantly higher prevalence of TMD symptoms (x(2)=33.877, P<. 001) and reduced functional movements (x2 = 10.800, P<.05) than any other group. In conclusion, sex and type of crossbite play a role in the prevalence of TMD signs and symptoms.
Chapter 1 Theory of Matrix Functions from "functions of Matrices: Theory and Computation"

In this first chapter we give a concise treatment of the theory of matrix functions, concentrating on those aspects that are most useful in the development of algorithms. Most of the results in this chapter are for general functions. Results specific to particular functions can be found in later chapters devoted to those functions. The term " function of a matrix " can have several different meanings. In this book we are interested in a definition that takes a scalar function f and a matrix A ∈ C n×n and specifies f (A) to be a matrix of the same dimensions as A; it does so in a way that provides a useful generalization of the function of a scalar variable f (z), z ∈ C. Other interpretations of f (A) that are not our focus here are as follows: • Elementwise operations on matrices, for example sin A = (sin a ij). These operations are available in some programming languages. For example, Fortran 95 supports " elemental operations " [423, ], and most of MATLAB's elementary and special functions are applied in an elementwise fashion when given matrix arguments. However, elementwise operations do not integrate well with matrix algebra, as is clear from the fact that the elementwise square of A is not equal to the matrix product of A with itself. (Nevertheless, the elementwise product of two matrices, known as the Hadamard product or Schur product, is a useful concept [294, ], [296, , Chap. 5].) • Functions producing a scalar result, such as the trace, the determinant, the spectral radius, the condition number κ(A) = A A −1 , and one particular generalization to matrix arguments of the hypergeometric function [359, ]. • Functions mapping C n×n to C m×m that do not stem from a scalar function. Examples include matrix polynomials with matrix coefficients, the matrix transpose , the adjugate (or adjoint) matrix, compound matrices comprising minors of a given matrix, and factors from matrix factorizations. However, as a special case, the polar factors of a matrix are treated in Chapter 8. • Functions mapping C to C n×n , such as the transfer function f (t) = B(tI − A) −1 C, for B ∈ C n×m , A ∈ C m×m , and C ∈ C m×n. Before giving formal definitions, we offer some motivating remarks. When f (t) is a polynomial or rational …
[Age-related macular degeneration].

Age-related macular degeneration mainly affects central vision, which is needed for detailed tasks such as reading, driving, and recognizing faces. The vision loss in this condition results from a gradual deterioration of light-sensing cells in the tissue at the back of the eye that detects light and color (the retina). Specifically, age-related macular degeneration affects a small area near the center of the retina, called the macula, which is responsible for central vision. Side (peripheral) vision and night vision are generally not affected, but slow adjustment of vision to darkness (dark adaptation) and reduced dim light (scotopic) vision often occur in the early stages of the disease.