Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Medical devices for the anesthetist: current perspectives

Anesthesiologists are unique among most physicians in that they routinely use technology and medical devices to carry out their daily activities. Recently, there have been significant advances in medical technology. These advances have increased the number and utility of medical devices available to the anesthesiologist. There is little doubt that these new tools have improved the practice of anesthesia. Monitoring has become more comprehensive and less invasive, airway management has become easier, and placement of central venous catheters and regional nerve blockade has become faster and safer. This review focuses on key medical devices such as cardiovascular monitors, airway equipment, neuromonitoring tools, ultrasound, and target controlled drug delivery software and hardware. This review demonstrates how advances in these areas have improved the safety and efficacy of anesthesia and facilitate its administration. When applicable, indications and contraindications to the use of these novel devices will be explored as well as the controversies surrounding their use.
Texture Synthesis of Contrasting Natural Patterns

The seamless integration of the shape and visual attributes of virtual objects is still one of the greatest challenges in Computer Graphics. For some natural objects, such as patterned animals, shape and appearance are mutually connected and therefore the individual treatment of these two aspects difficult the whole process and limits the visual results. One approach to solve this problem is to create shape and appearance together, thus generating so-called intelligent textures, since they can adapt to the surface of the object according to geometric information. The Clonal Mosaic model presented an approach for intelligent texturing of fur patterns seen in some mammals, particularly the big cats and giraffe. This paper extends this model to account for biologically plausible contrasting fur patterns, mostly seen in black and white, either regular - as seen in zebras, or irregular - as seen in cows and horses, among other animals. The main contributions of this work are the addition of a neural crest model, local control for parameters, and also vector field definition on the object's surface for simulation control. The results synthesized for various mammals with contrasting patterns such as cows, horses, and zebras, and other contrasting patterns found in frogs, for example, confirm the advantages of an integrated approach such as the one provided by the extended Clonal Mosaic procedural model.
A Review of Cold Fronts with Prefrontal Troughs and Wind Shifts

Abstract The conceptual model of a classical surface-based cold front consists of a sharp temperature decrease coincident with a pressure trough and a distinct wind shift at the surface. Many cold fronts, however, do not conform to this model—time series at a single surface station may possess a pressure trough and wind shift in the warm air preceding the cold front (hereafter called a prefrontal trough and prefrontal wind shift, respectively). Although many authors have recognized these prefrontal features previously, a review of the responsible mechanisms has not been performed to date. This paper presents such a review. Ten disparate mechanisms with different frontal structures have been identified from the previous literature. These mechanisms include those external to the front (i.e., those not directly associated with the cold front itself): synoptic-scale forcing, interaction with lee troughs/drylines, interaction with fronts in the mid- and upper troposphere, and frontogenesis associated with inho.
Hybrid of GPON and XGPON for Splitting Ratio of 1:64

Telecommunication Research Group, School of Electrical and Informatics Engineering, ITB Jl. Ganesha No.10 Bandung 40132 Indonesia nana@stei.itb. ac.id What is Question Generation? Abstract: In the last mile of telecommunication network technology, optical transmission network has been deployed using the Fiber-to-the Home (FTTH) technology to provide broadband user demands. Evolution of the FTTH network change very rapidly, causing an implementation of existing and new technology should be in coexistence or called in hybrid mode. Optical distribution networks consist of more than 60% of the total investments in deploying Passive Optical Networks (PON). So, it is essential for the evolution of PON to cooperation with the existing networks. This paper discusses compatible hybrid application of the Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) and the 10-Gigabit-capable Passive Optical Network (XGPON) for splitting ratio of 1:64. The performance of the hybrid network system is analyzed using The Opti-system software tool. The transmitter, the receiver and the transmission channel are set in compliance to the ITU-T standards series G.984. A laser component with NRZ modulation scheme and the transmitter power is adjusted to maximum power. The fiber optic cable uses the Single Mode Fiber (SMF) and the bit rate used in the GPON is 2.5 Gbps downstream and 1.25 Gbps upstream, while on the XGPON the bit rate are 10 Gbps downstream and 2.5 Gbps upstream. The result of experiment by simulation shows that the performance of hybrid GPON and XGPON technology for 1:64 splitting ratio is suitable to be implemented in FTTH to provide broadband services. It means that the migration from GPON to XGPON can be done smoothly via hybrid mode to keep safe existing investment of Telco operators.
Motion estimation based on affine moment invariants

A method is proposed for parametric motion estimation of an image region. It is assumed that the region considered undergoes an affine transformation, which means that the motion is composed of a translation and a pure affine function of pixel coordinates. The solution of the object correspondence problem is assumed to be known. The estimation of the six motion parameters is based on the moments of the corresponding image regions. Moments up to order three are needed. For the motion computation each region is transformed to a standard position which is defined using affine invariants. The result of motion estimation is checked in the construction of a mosaic image.
iHOP web services

iHOP provides fast, accurate, comprehensive, and up-to-date summary information on more than 80 000 biological molecules by automatically extracting key sentences from millions of PubMed documents. Its intuitive user interface and navigation scheme have made iHOP extremely successful among biologists, counting more than 500 000 visits per month (iHOP access statistics: http://www.ihop-net.org/UniPub/iHOP/info/logs/). Here we describe a public programmatic API that enables the integration of main iHOP functionalities in bioinformatic programs and workflows.
Local susceptibility of the retina, formation and duration of afterimages in the case of Class 1 laser products, and disability glare arising from high-brightness light emitting diodes

According to the new European Directive on Artificial Optical Radiation, the employer has to determine the exposure and the assessment of risks and in addition, he shall give particular attention to any indirect effects, such as temporary blinding, when carrying out the risk assessment. Up to now, secondary effects such as temporary blinding have not been regarded in safety standards and there exist but a few data on this topic as far as modern artificial high-brightness (HB) light sources are concerned. Temporary blinding from a Class 1 laser and a white high-brightness light emitting diode (LED) in the visual field has been investigated as a function of the glare angle and of the amount of the emitted optical energy. In an extensive study with a He-Ne laser at a wavelength of 632.8 nm, it was found that even for output powers of 5 to 30 μW, the tested subjects reported intense glare effects and felt uncomfortable due to the high brightness. The durations of afterimages ranged up to 300 s and have been m.
Influence of acetabular coverage on hip survival after free vascularized fibular grafting for femoral head osteonecrosis.

BACKGROUND Osteonecrosis of the femoral head frequently results in collapse of the head and subsequent arthrosis of the joint. Surgical treatment has been based entirely on the evaluation of the femoral side of the hip joint, with little consideration given to the possible influence on outcome of the orientation of the acetabulum. METHODS We retrospectively reviewed a consecutive series of 200 hips in 160 patients with osteonecrosis of the femoral head who had undergone free vascularized fibular grafting between 1997 and 1998. The mean duration of clinical follow-up was 7.5 years. Ninety-one hips in seventy-one patients were evaluated radiographically for evidence of progression of femoral head collapse at a minimum of two years, and a mean of three years, postoperatively. We defined conversion to a total hip arthroplasty and progression of femoral head collapse as the failure end points, and we analyzed the association of the acetabular center-edge angle of Wiberg, the area and laterality of the lesion, the amount of preoperative collapse of the femoral head, and the etiology of the osteonecrosis with the likelihood of failure. RESULTS Forty-eight (24%) of the 200 hips had undergone conversion to a total hip arthroplasty at the time of the final clinical follow-up. In addition, 15% (fourteen) of the ninety-one hips with sufficient radiographic follow-up demonstrated progression of femoral head collapse at the time of the final radiographic examination. Of the hips with a center-edge angle of </=30 degrees , 55% (of those with sufficient radiographic follow-up) demonstrated progressive collapse and 45% were converted to a total hip arthroplasty. In contrast, of the hips with a center-edge angle of >30 degrees , 10% had progressive collapse (p = 0.002) and 6% were converted to a total hip arthroplasty (p < 0.001). Neither the etiology nor the size of the lesion was significantly correlated with progression of collapse or conversion to a total hip arthroplasty. CONCLUSIONS Patients with osteonecrosis of the femoral head and a suboptimal center-edge angle of the hip are at substantial risk for progression of femoral head collapse and conversion to a total hip arthroplasty following free vascularized fibular grafting. An estimation of the degree of hip dysplasia should be included in the preoperative assessment of patients with osteonecrosis of the femoral head for prognostic and possibly surgical planning purposes.
Audio Events Detection in Public Transport Vehicle

This paper addresses the problem of automatic audio analysis for aided surveillance application in public transport. The aim of such application is to detect critical situations and to warn the control room. We propose a comparative study of two methods of modelisation/classification of acoustical segments. The problem is quite similar to the 'audio indexing' framework, nevertheless the environment here is very noisy. We present two general frameworks based on Gaussian model mixture (GMM) and support vector machine (SVM) to achieve shout detection in railway embedded environment
SnO2 Thin Films Prepared by APCVD for Organic Solar Cells Application

Abstract: The amelioration of the efficiency of photovoltaic conversion in organic solar cells can be obtained by minimizing losses in reflection and absorption in the transparent electrode/active layer interface involving increased absorption efficiency in the active layer which can be achieved by the use of TCOs with special optical and electrical properties. Tin oxide SnO2 thin films have been prepared by APCVD method using the SnCl2 as a starting material. The surface morphology of the films deposited on glass substrates were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The ellipsometry was used to determinate the refractive index for the films deposited at 480°C and the -sheet resistance was measured using the Four-Point probe. Transmittance of SnO2 films deposited on ITO was measured by UV-visible spectroscopy. SnO2 films prepared during 11 minutes present a sheet resistance of 19.57 Ωcm-2, transmittance higher than 80% and refractive index of 1.75 can be used as interfacial layer in organic solar cells application to minimize the reflectivity. The total reflectivity of SnO2/P3HT: PCBM obtained by using these films is less than 3%. SnO2 films can also be used as interfacial layers in inverted solar cells application.
Backward Stochastic Differential Equations and Applications in Finance

The aim of this short case is to present the basic theory of BSDEs and to give some applications in 2 different domains: mathematical finance and partial differential equations. This short course is divided into 3 parts: Part 1 gives the basic theory of BSDEs; Part 2 gives the link between BSDEs and PDEs and Part 3 gives the recent development of quadratic BSDEs. To solve a BSDE, it is to find a couple of adapted processes (Y, Z) satisfying the following SDE:
A Newsvendor Problem with Revenue Sharing in B2B Marketplaces

This study examines channel performances of business-to-business electronic and traditional marketplaces for newsvendor problems under revenue-sharing contracts. A manufacturer, acting as a leader in the channel, offers a retailer a revenue-sharing contract and wholesale price. The retailer, acting as a follower in the channel, decides the product quantity and retail price. The numerical indicate that the profits of channel, manufacturer and retailer for the vertically decentralized channel in the electronic marketplaces are generally better off than those in the traditional marketplaces.
A size‐structured food‐web model for the global ocean

We present a model of diverse phytoplankton and zooplankton populations embedded in a global ocean circulation model. Physiological and ecological traits of the organisms are constrained by relationships with cell size. The model qualitatively reproduces global distributions of nutrients, biomass, and primary productivity, and captures the power‐law relationship between cell size and numerical density, which has realistic slopes of between −1.3 and −0.8. We use the model to explore the global structure of marine ecosystems, highlighting the importance of both nutrient and grazer controls. The model suggests that zooplankton : phytoplankton (Z : P) biomass ratios may vary from an order of 0.1 in the oligotrophic gyres to an order of 10 in upwelling and high‐latitude regions. Global estimates of the strength of bottom‐up and top‐down controls within plankton size classes suggest that these large‐scale gradients in Z : P ratios are driven by a shift from strong bottom‐up, nutrient limitation in the oligotrophic gyres to the dominance of top‐down, grazing controls in more productive regions.
Worst-case vs Average-case Design for Estimation from Fixed Pairwise Comparisons

Pairwise comparison data arises in many domains, including tournament rankings, web search, and preference elicitation. Given noisy comparisons of a fixed subset of pairs of items, we study the problem of estimating the underlying comparison probabilities under the assumption of strong stochastic transitivity (SST). We also consider the noisy sorting subclass of the SST model. We show that when the assignment of items to the topology is arbitrary, these permutation-based models, unlike their parametric counterparts, do not admit consistent estimation for most comparison topologies used in practice. We then demonstrate that consistent estimation is possible when the assignment of items to the topology is randomized, thus establishing a dichotomy between worst-case and average-case designs. We propose two estimators in the average-case setting and analyze their risk, showing that it depends on the comparison topology only through the degree sequence of the topology. The rates achieved by these estimators are shown to be optimal for a large class of graphs. Our results are corroborated by simulations on multiple comparison topologies.
Beneficial Use of Steel Slag Fines to Immobilize Arsenite and Arsenate: Slag Characterization and Metal Thresholding Studies

This study presents the results of an extensive beneficial-use evaluation of 3/8-in. minus steel slag fines (SSF) to immobilize arsenic. Two primary sets of experiments were undertaken to assess (1) the ability of SSF to immobilize 100 mg/kg arsenite (As3+) and arsenate (As5+) in dredged material when blended with SSF, including slag cement doses (up to 2%) to determine if additional environmental polishing was necessary; and (2) the ability of SSF alone to immobilize each As species. Visually, the SSF materials resemble an AASHTO No. 9 (fine) aggregate, with a small fraction passing the No. 200 (0.075 mm) sieve. In order to establish the design parameters for deploying the slag media in geoenvironmental applications (soil blending, drainage, reactive trenches, and filters), the soil classification and grain-size distribution, specific gravity, loss on ignition (ash content), standard and modified Proctor compaction behavior, direct shear strength, and swell behavior of the SSF media were evaluated. Addi.
Donor double‐negative Treg promote allogeneic mixed chimerism and tolerance

Bone marrow (BM) transplantation is an efficient approach to develop donor‐specific tolerance and prevent chronic rejection. Allogeneic BM transplantation is limited by donor T cell‐mediated graft‐versus‐host disease, requirement of cytoreduction and high numbers of BM cells. In addition of these drawbacks, recent studies demonstrate that not only T cells, but also NK cells can mediate BM rejection, and long‐term mixed chimerism depends on NK cell tolerance. Thus, NK cell is another potential barrier against engraftment of BM and an important target in efforts to induce transplant tolerance. We have previously identified a novel type of Treg with the phenotype TCRαβ+CD3+CD4–CD8– (double‐negative, DN). We and others have demonstrated that DN‐Treg can effectively suppress anti‐donor T cell responses. In this study, we found that donor‐derived DN‐Treg can suppress NK cell‐mediated allogeneic BM graft rejection in both parent‐to‐F1 and fully MHC‐mismatched BM transplantation models. Perforin and FasL in DN‐Treg play important roles in the suppression of NK cells. Furthermore, adoptive transfer of DN‐Treg can promote a stable mixed chimerism and donor‐specific tolerance without inducing graft‐versus‐host disease. These results demonstrate a potential approach to control innate immune responses and promote allogeneic BM engraftment.
Orf-I and Orf-II-Encoded Proteins in HTLV-1 Infection and Persistence

The 3′ end of the human T-cell leukemia/lymphoma virus type-1 (HTLV-1) genome contains four overlapping open reading frames (ORF) that encode regulatory proteins. Here, we review current knowledge of HTLV-1 orf-I and orf-II protein products. Singly spliced mRNA from orf-I encodes p12, which can be proteolytically cleaved to generate p8, while differential splicing of mRNA from orf-II results in production of p13 and p30. These proteins have been demonstrated to modulate transcription, apoptosis, host cell activation and proliferation, virus infectivity and transmission, and host immune responses. Though these proteins are not essential for virus replication in vitro, p8, p12, p13, and p30 have an important role in the establishment and maintenance of HTLV-1 infection in vivo.
Clinical and radiological findings of discogenic low back pain confirmed by automated pressure-controlled discography.

OBJECTIVE Few studies on the clinical spectrum of automated pressure-controlled discography (APCD)-defined positive discs have been reported to date. Thus, the present study was undertaken to analyze clinical parameters critical for diagnosis of discogenic pain and to correlate imaging findings with intradiscal pressures and pain responses in patients with APCD-positive discs. METHODS Twenty-three patients who showed APCD-positive discs were selected for analysis. CT discogram findings and the degrees of nuclear degeneration seen on MRI were analyzed in comparison to changes of intradiscal pressure that provoked pain responses; and clinical pain patterns and dynamic factors were evaluated in relation to pain provocation. RESULTS Low back pain (LBP), usually centralized, with diffuse leg pain was the most frequently reported pattern of pain in these patients. Overall, LBP was most commonly induced by sitting posture, however, standing was highly correlated with L5/S1 disc lesions (p < 0.01). MRI abnormalities were statistically correlated with grading of CT discogram results (p < 0.05); with most pain response observed in CT discogram Grades 3 and 4. Pain-provoking pressure was not statistically correlated with MRI grading. However, it was higher in Grade 3 than Grade 4. CONCLUSION APCD-positive discs were demonstrated in patients reporting centralized low back pain with diffuse leg pain, aggravated by sitting and standing. MRI was helpful to assess the degree of nuclear degeneration, yet it could not guarantee exact localization of the painful discs. APCD was considered to be more useful than conventional discography for diagnosis of discogenic pain.
Cournot competition in networked markets

The paper considers a model of competition among firms that produce a homogeneous good in a networked environment. A bipartite graph determines which subset of markets a firm can supply to. Firms compete a la Cournot and decide how to allocate their production output to the markets they are directly connected to. We assume that markets have inverse linear demand and firms have quadratic production costs. First, we show that the resulting Cournot game has a unique equilibrium for any given network and provide a characterization of the production quantities at equilibrium. Our results identify a close connection between the equilibrium outcome and supply paths in the underlying network structure. In particular, we show that whether two firms see their output in different markets as strategic substitutes or complements depends critically on the paths between those markets in the line graph induced by the original bipartite network. Armed with a characterization of the equilibrium supply decisions, we explore the effect of changes in the network structure on firms' profits and consumer welfare. First, we study the question of a firm entering a new market. We show that entry may not be beneficial for either the firm or the consumers as such a move affects the entire vector of production quantities. The firm might face a more aggressive competition in its original markets due to its entry to a new market. Moreover, the effect on other firms and consumers also depends on their location in the network. This is in stark contrast with standard results in Cournot oligopoly where entry implies more competition in the market and thus higher consumer welfare. Similarly, the effect of a merger between two firms on profits and overall welfare largely depends on the structure of competition in the original Cournot market. In particular, we show that insights from analyzing mergers in a single market do not carry over in a networked environment. Market concentration indices are insufficient to correctly account for the network effect of a merger and one should not restrict attention to the set of markets that the firms participating in the merger supply to. Finally, we study the operations of a cartel including the entire set of firms. We show that the cartel maximizes its profits by appropriately segmenting the markets among its members so that a firm supplies solely to the ones allocated to it, and we provide an algorithm that computes the optimal production quantities for each firm in the cartel.