Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Rapid three-dimensional urban model production using bilayered displacement mapping

The depiction and navigation of large-scale urban landscapes are limited by the great cost of traditional computer-aided design (CAD) models for large urban environment in terms of both the labor of data entry and the runtime computational expense. This article presents a hybrid modeling approach that enables rapid urban model production from legacy spatial data. Our scheme fills the gap between the low geometry models, such as photo-textured digital terrains, and high geometry models, such as true three-dimensional CAD models. To achieve optimal performance in modeling and rendering, we employ bilayered displacement mapping consisting of global displacement mapping (GDM) for terrains and local displacement mapping (LDM) for buildings. The LDM is performed only within image processing so that the complexity of the models depends only on the area of an urban model. We present a use case of rapid urban model production to compare our approach with the traditional polygonal urban models of a widely used geo-browser.
Nanoindentation mapping reveals gradients in the mechanical properties of dental enamel in rat incisors

1. IntroductionRats are serious agricultural pests that are responsible forenormous losses (2–100%) in crops and stored foodproducts worldwide (Hopf et al. 1976). Rodents alsotransmit many human and animal pathogens, includingHantavirussp. ,Leptospira sp.andSalmonellasp. Whenratsgnaw on electric wiring, the resulting threat of ﬁre mayendanger human life. Rats heavily damage wood andconcrete ﬂoors. They are exceptionally morphologicallypredisposedforthistypeofdamagingactivity;theirjawscanexert a pressure of 185MPa, and their teeth are rather hard.Anexactunderstandingofthephysicalpropertiesofratteethisnotonlyimportantforthefuturedevelopmentofrat-proofconstructionmaterials,buttheobtainedknowledgemayalsobeemployedinhumandentalmedicineduetothesubstantialstructuralandformationsimilaritiesbetweenratandhumanteeth. Rat incisor teeth, such as those of all members of themammalian order Rodentia, grow continuously and canexhibit all stages of tooth formation at any given time. Thedental enamel on the incisors primarily comprisescarbonated apatite with less than 1% w/w organic matterand 4–5% w/w water (Baldassarri et al. 2008). The aims of this study are as follows: (1) todeterminate the hardness (H) and reduced elastic modulus(E
The Adrenergic System and the Release and Pressor Action of Vasopressin

We studied the effect of various adrenergic components on vasopressin in groups of anephric rats. Pharmacological interventions included α1-, a2-, and β-adrenergic receptor blockade and infusions of sodium nitroprusside to achieve a baseline blood pressure fall similar to that obtained by α1-blockade, followed by hypertonic saline infusion to stimulate vasopressin release and administration of a specific V1 vascular vasopressin inhibitor to test the degree of blood pressure dependency on vasopressin. The combined hypotensive and osmolar stimuli of nitroprusside followed by hypertonic saline led to the highest level of plasma vasopressin (104 ± 17 pg/ml, p < 0.01) but only a 7 ± 1 mm Hg fall in blood pressure in response to the vasopressin inhibitor. Rats subjected to α1-blockade and saline infusion had the largest blood pressure reduction in response to the vasopressin inhibitor (43 ± 5 mm Hg, p < 0.001), despite a modest rise in vasopressin levels (18 ± 2 pg/ml). Other pharmacological maneuvers produced intermediate responses in terms of vasopressin release and blood pressure response to the vasopressin inhibitor. There was no correlation between vasopressin levels achieved by each maneuver and the magnitude of blood pressure reduction in response to the vasopressin inhibitor. We conclude that 1) plasma levels of vasopressin under these conditions do not permit an accurate estimate of the magnitude of its pressor contribution to the maintenance of a given blood pressure level, which can be demonstrated only by the depressor response to a vasopressin inhibitor, and 2) the maximal vasopressor potential of vasopressin can be expressed only under conditions of impaired α1-adrenergic function.
Assignment of orthologous genes via genome rearrangement

The assignment of orthologous genes between a pair of genomes is a fundamental and challenging problem in comparative genomics. Existing methods that assign orthologs based on the similarity between DNA or protein sequences may make erroneous assignments when sequence similarity does not clearly delineate the evolutionary relationship among genes of the same families. In this paper, we present a new approach to ortholog assignment that takes into account both sequence similarity and evolutionary events at a genome level, where orthologous genes are assumed to correspond to each other in the most parsimonious evolving scenario under genome rearrangement. First, the problem is formulated as that of computing the signed reversal distance with duplicates between the two genomes of interest. Then, the problem is decomposed into two new optimization problems, called minimum common partition and maximum cycle decomposition, for which efficient heuristic algorithms are given. Following this approach, we have implemented a high-throughput system for assigning orthologs on a genome scale, called SOAR, and tested it on both simulated data and real genome sequence data. Compared to a recent ortholog assignment method based entirely on homology search (called INPARANOID), SOAR shows a marginally better performance in terms of sensitivity on the real data set because it is able to identify several correct orthologous pairs that are missed by INPARANOID. The simulation results demonstrate that SOAR, in general, performs better than the iterated exemplar algorithm in terms of computing the reversal distance and assigning correct orthologs.
The Experience with SiC MOSFET and Buck Converter Snubber Design

The newest semiconductor devices on the market are MOSFET transistors based on the silicon carbide – SiC. This material has exclusive features thanks to which it becomes a better switch than Si – silicon semiconductor switch. There are some special features that need to be understood to enable the device’s use to its full potential. The advantages and differences of SiC MOSFETs in comparison with Si IGBT transistors have been described in first part of this article. Second part describes driver for SiC MOSFET transistor and last part of article represents SiC MOSFET in the application of buck converter (step-down) and design of simple RC snubber. Keywords—SiC, Si, MOSFET, IGBT, SBD, RC snubber.
Joint channel sensing and power control scheme for cognitive radio wireless sensor networks

In this paper, we investigate channel sensing and power control problems in a cluster-based cognitive radio wireless sensor network (CRWSN). We first propose three channel sensing algorithms to solve the channel sensing problem including availability constraints. Then a joint channel sensing and power control scheme (JCSPCS) is proposed to solve the power control problem including quality of service (QoS) constraints. We prove that all our algorithms are probably approximately correct (PAC) algorithms that can correctly identify a bad channel with high probability. We show that our algorithms are suitable for QoS-constrained applications as they all terminate in a finite time with a finite error rate. The performance of our channel sensing algorithms and the joint channel sensing and power control scheme is shown in the simulation results.
Aspect-Oriented Programming is Quantification and Obliviousness

This paper proposes that the distinguishing characteristic of Aspect-Oriented Programming (AOP) systems is that they allow programming by making quantified programmatic assertions over programs written by programmers oblivious to such assertions. Thus, AOP systems can be analyzed with respect to three critical dimensions: the kinds of quantifications allowed, the nature of the actions that can be asserted, and the mechanism for combining base-level actions with asserted actions. Consequences of this perspective are the recognition that certain systems are not AOP and that some mechanisms are expressive enough to allow programming an AOP system within them. A corollary is that while AOP can be applied to Object-Oriented Programming, it is an independent concept applicable to other programming styles.
Transmembrane Helix Packing of ErbB/Neu Receptor in Membrane Environment: A Molecular Dynamics Study

Abstract Dimerization or oligomerization of the ErbB/Neu receptors are necessary but not sufficient for initiation of receptor signaling. The two intracellular domains must be properly oriented for the juxtaposition of the kinase domains allowing trans-phosphorylation. This suggests that the transmembrane (TM) domain acts as a guide for defining the proper orientation of the intracellular domains. Two structural models, with the two helices either in left-handed or in right-handed coiling have been proposed as the TM domain structure of the active receptor. Because experimental data do not distinguish clearly helix-helix packing, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are used to investigate the energetic factors that drive Neu TM-TM interactions of the wild and the oncogenic receptor (Val664/Glu mutation) in DMPC or in POPC environments. MD results indicate that helix-lipid interactions in the bilayer core are extremely similar in the two environments and raise the role of the juxtamembrane residues in helix insertion and helix-helix packing. The TM domain shows a greater propensity to adopt a left-handed structure in DMPC, with helices in optimal position for strong inter-helical Hbonds induced by the Glu mutation. In POPC, the right-handed structure is preferentially formed with the participation of water in inter-helical Hbonds. The two structural arrangements of the NeuTM helices both with GG4 residue motif in close contact at the interface are permissible in the membrane environment. According to the hypothesis of a monomer-dimer equilibrium of the proteins it is likely that the bilayer imposes structural constraints that favor dimerization- competent structure responsible of the proper topology necessary for receptor activation.
Safe Takeoffs - Soft Landings

The richness of life’s possibilities creates a paradox. It poses fundamental limitations on the ability of an organism to reason and act intelligently, as information in its environment is often ambiguous and consistent with an infinite number of interpretations. At the same time, interpretation of this information is required for intelligent action. To further complicate the situation, many problems that are solvable in principle are intractable in practice. As an example, the number of winning sequences of moves in a chess game is finite. Yet determining these sequences from all possible sequences is impractical for the chess player, as there are more possible sequences than atoms in the universe. Cognitive scientists are certainly familiar with underdetermination and computational complexity in association with work on language learnability theory (e.g., Gold, 1967; Wexler & Cullicover, 1980), but complexity problems extend to virtually every area of cognition from perception to concept learning to decision making. If organisms cannot, and therefore do not, examine all possibilities in some cognitive task, they must. be “prepared” or biased to learn some things rather than others, to draw some plausible inferences rather than others, and in general to favor some possibilities at the expense of others. As evidenced by the present set of exemplary papers by Brown, Gelman, Keil, Markman, Newport, and Spelke, psychologists are increasingly drawing on analyses of constraints or “guiding principles” as a framework for their research. All of the present authors are interested in development, and it is no accident that developmental psychologists have been leaders in recognizing the importance of constraints. Without guiding principles of some form it simply is unclear how the learning process would ever get off the ground. The purpose of this comment is to underline some of the important points and issues growing out of developmental work on constraints as reflected in the contributed papers. We first discuss a couple of distinctions and definitions associated with research on constraints, then shift attention to the per-
A rapid heuristic for scheduling non-preemptive dependent periodic tasks onto multiprocessor

We address distributed real-time applications represented by systems of non-preemptive dependent periodic tasks. This system is described by an acyclic directed graph. Because the distribution and the scheduling of these tasks onto a multiprocessor is an NP-hard problem we propose a greedy heuristic to solve it. Our heuristic sequences three algorithms: assignment, unrolling, and scheduling. The tasks of the same, or multiple, periods are assigned to the same processor according to a mixed sort. Then, the initial graph of tasks is unrolled, i.e. each task is repeated according to the ratio between its period and the least common multiple of all periods of tasks. Finally, the tasks of the unrolled graph are distributed and scheduled onto the processors where they have been assigned. Then, we give the complexity of this heuristic, and we illustrate it with an example. A performance analysis comparing our heuristic with an optimal Branch and Cut algorithm concludes that our heuristic is effective in terms of scheduling success ratio and speed.
Hybrid Modulated Extended Secondary Universal Current-Fed ZVS Converter for Wide Voltage Range: Analysis, Design, and Experimental Results

A soft-switching extended secondary universal current-fed converter (ESUC) has been proposed, analyzed, and designed. The proposed converter accommodates a wide source voltage range to cover several sources to interface through extended secondary-circuit and hybrid modulation. Proposed fixed frequency hybrid modulation and design achieves soft-switching of semiconductor devices under all operating conditions. It is therefore suitable to be universally adopted for solar photovoltaic (PV), fuel cell, and battery applications. Current-fed technology is suitable for such sources (low voltage, high current). Experimental results are illustrated to verify the claims and to show the performance of the converter over a wide input voltage range of 20-60 V with load variation.
Constructing Symmetric Boolean Functions With Maximum Algebraic Immunity

Symmetric Boolean functions with even variables 2k and maximum algebraic immunity AI(f) = k have been constructed in Braeken's thesis (2006). In this paper, we show more constructions of such Boolean functions including the generalization of a result and prove a conjecture raised in Braeken's thesis (2006).
Prognostic significance of tumor-infiltrating immune cells and PD-L1 expression in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma

Programmed death-1 receptor (PD-1) and its ligand (PD-L1) play an integral role in regulating the immune response against cancer. This study investigated the prognostic significance of PD-L1 expression on tumor cells and tumor-infiltrating immune cells (TILs) in the tumor microenvironment in Chinese patients with esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC). Archival formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded ESCC samples from treatment-naïve patients with ESCC after surgery or by diagnostic endoscopic biopsy were collected between 2004 and 2014. Expression of PD-L1 in ESCC tumor specimens was assessed by immunohistochemistry (IHC), and the degree of TIL infiltration was evaluated by examining hematoxylin and eosin-stained (H&E) specimens. PD-L1+ as defined as ≥1% of tumor cell membranes showing ≥1+ intensity. In 428 patients, specimens from 341 (79.7%) were PD-L1+. In the definitive treatment group (patients who received curative esophagectomy or definitive [chemo-]radiation therapy), PD-L1 positivity was associated with a significantly shorter DFS and OS. In the palliative chemotherapy group exhibited, neither PFS nor OS correlated significantly with PD-L1 expression. PD-L1 expression was positively associated with TIL density. In 17 paired tumor tissues collected before and after treatment, an increase in PD-L1 expression was associated with disease progression, whereas a decrease in PD-L1 expression was associated with response to chemotherapy or disease control. So, PD-L1 expression was associated with a significantly worse prognosis in patients with ESCC. These observations suggest that PD-L1 may play a critical role in ESCC cancer progression and provide a rationale for developing PD-L1 inhibitors for treatment of a subset of ESCC patients.
Forecasting the Diffusion of Innovation: A Stochastic Bass Model With Log-Normal and Mean-Reverting Error Process

Forecasting the diffusion of innovations plays a major role in managing technology development and in engineering management overall. In this paper, we extend the conventional Bass model stochastically by specifying the error process of sales as log-normal and mean-reverting. Our model satisfies the following reasonable properties, which are generally ignored in the existing literature: sales cannot be negative, the error process can have a memory, and sales fluctuate more when they are high and less when they are low. The conventional and widely used model that assumes normally distributed error term does not have these properties. We address how to forecast properly under the log-normal and mean-reverting error process, and show analytically and numerically that in our extended model sales forecasts can substantially alter conventional Bass forecasts. We also analyze the model empirically, showing that our extension can improve the accuracy of future sales forecasts.
CAPTURE DATA RECOVERY VIA TRAJECTORY-BASED SPARSE REPRESENTATION

Motion capture is widely used in sports, entertainment and medical applications. An important issue is to recover motion capture data that has been corrupted by noise and missing data entries during acquisition. In this paper, we propose a new method to recover corrupted motion capture data through trajectory-based sparse representation. The data is firstly represented as trajectories with fixed length and high correlation. Then, based on the sparse representation theory, the original trajectories can be recovered by solving the sparse representation of the incomplete trajectories through the OMP algorithm using a dictionary learned by K-SVD. Experimental results show that the proposed algorithm achieves much better performance, especially when significant portions of data is missing, than the existing algorithms.
Dietary protein content affects evolution for body size, body fat and viability in Drosophila melanogaster

The ability to use different food sources is likely to be under strong selection if organisms are faced with natural variation in macro-nutrient (protein, carbohydrate and lipid) availabilities. Here, we use experimental evolution to study how variable dietary protein content affects adult body composition and developmental success in Drosophila melanogaster. We reared flies on either a standard diet or a protein-enriched diet for 17 generations before testing them on both diet types. Flies from lines selected on protein-rich diet produced phenotypes with higher total body mass and relative lipid content when compared with those selected on a standard diet, irrespective of which of the two diets they were tested on. However, selection on protein-rich diet incurred a cost as flies reared on this diet had markedly lower developmental success in terms of egg-to-adult viability on both medium types, suggesting a possible trade-off between the traits investigated.
An algorithm for synchronization of in vivo electroporation with ECG

The combined treatment of tumours in which delivery of a chemotherapeutic agent is followed by high voltage electroporation pulses has been termed electrochemotherapy. The electrochemotherapy of tumours located relatively close to the heart muscle can lead to fibrillation of the heart, especially if electroporation pulses are delivered in the vulnerable period of the heart or in coincidence with heart arrhythmias. We built an electroporation pulse delivery algorithm that enables safer use of electrochemotherapy. The algorithm is designed to deliver pulses outside the vulnerable period and to prevent pulses from being generated in the presence of heart arrhythmias. We evaluated the algorithm's performance using records of the Long-Term ST Database, thus simulating real-world conditions. The results of the evaluation, a sensitivity of 91.751%, a positive predictivity of 100.000% and a delivery error rate of 8.268% for electroporation pulse delivery (medians), suggest that the algorithm is accurate and appropriate for application in electrochemotherapy of tumours regardless of tumour location.
A sudden infant death prevention system for babies

The sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is an expert diagnosis when an apparently healthy baby dies without explanation. When physicians or coroners cannot explain the cause of death it is classified as sudden death. This paper reviews the related literature and proposes a mobile solution based on biofeedback monitoring that tries to prevent the sudden death in infants. The sudden death system uses real-time data collection from sensors to diagnose, in advance, baby health problems and prevent those are take care for a baby. When an issue is detected by this system (i.e., the sensors send abnormal data), it sends a warning to those responsible for the baby. It allows the access to data from sensors and their analysis in real-time (such as, the baby position and the crib). Signal processing algorithms are used in real-time to prevent a sudden death. Mobile devices (such as, smartphones or tablets) are used to process the sensed data and monitoring a baby performing alerts/warnings when an abnormal situation is detected. The proposed approach is evaluated and demonstrated through a prototype.
Endotoxin removal from water using microporous polyethylene chopped fibres as a new adsorbent

SUMMARY A new adsorbent, microporous polyethylene chopped fibre, was produced from a high density polyethylene. This can adsorb lipopolysaccharides (LPS) linearly up to 2 h, and showed the highest capacity to adsorb LPS when compared with two other polyethylene-based adsorbents and a polystyrene-based adsorbent. More than twice as much orange II and 4-nitroquinoline N oxide were adsorbed in the new adsorbent as was LPS. The adsorption isotherm of the new adsorbent for LPS was of Ln type, the correlation between adsorption and concentration of solute was proportional; whereas orange II and 4-nitroquinoline N oxide were of L type (greater adsorption than Ln type); tetrachloroethylene adsorption was of S type, less than Ln type. Adsorption of LPS to the new adsorbent increased when temperature rose, whereas adsorption of orange II and 4-nitroquinoline N oxide decreased. These data suggest that the binding of LPS to the new adsorbent is a hydrophobic interaction, whereas the binding of both orange II and 4-nitroquinoline N oxide is not. The new adsorbent has a greater potential for the removal of endotoxin from tap water than other commercially available adsorbents such as charcoal and Amberlite XAD-2.
Efficient Detection of Routing Attacks in Wireless Sensor Networks

A lot of effort has been spent in securing the routing procedure in wireless sensor network (WSNs) since this is accomplished in a cooperative way and is vital for the communication of the sensors with the base station which collects the sensed data. The communication over wireless links in combination with the ad hoc organization introduces vulnerabilities. Each node monitors the behaviour of its neighbours in order to check whether they behave maliciously or not. Nodes with low trustworthiness are then avoided during routing decisions which are based on location and trust information. The efficiency of the proposed approach in defending against black-hole, grey-hole and integrity attacks is evaluated using computer simulations.