Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Conveying the 3D Shape of Transparent Surfaces via Texture

Transparency can be a useful device for depicting multiple overlapping surfaces in a single image. The challenge is to render the transparent surfaces in such a way that their three-dimensional shape can be readily understood and their depth distance from underlying structures clearly perceived. This paper describes our investigations into the use of sparsely-distributed discrete, opaque texture as an ``artistic device" for more explicitly indicating the relative depth of a transparent surface and for communicating the essential features of its 3D shape in an intuitively meaningful and minimally occluding way. The driving application for this work is the visualization of layered surfaces in radiation therapy treatment planning data, and the technique is illustrated on transparent isointensity surfaces of radiation dose. We describe the perceptual motivation and artistic inspiration for defining a stroke texture that is locally oriented in the direction of greatest normal curvature (and in which individual strokes are of a length proportional to the magnitude of the curvature in the direction they indicate), and discuss several alternative methods for applying this texture to isointensity surfaces defined in a volume. We propose an experimental paradigm for objectively measuring observers'' ability to judge the shape and depth of a layered transparent surface, in the course of a task relevant to the needs of radiotherapy treatment planning, and use this paradigm to evaluate the practical effectiveness of our approach through a controlled observer experiment based on images generated from actual clinical data.
In Vitro Protective Effect of Phikud Navakot Extraction on Erythrocyte

Phikud Navakot (PN), Thai herbal remedy in National List of Essential Medicines, has been claimed to reduce many cardiovascular symptoms especially dizziness and fainting. Apart from blood supply, erythrocyte morphology, in both shape and size, is one of the main consideration factors in cardiovascular diseases and may be affected by vascular oxidative stress. However, little is known about antioxidative property of PN on erythrocyte to preserve red blood cell integrity. In this study, 1,000 μM hydrogen peroxide-induced oxidative stress was conducted on sheep erythrocyte. Three doses of PN (1, 0.5, and 0.25 mg/mL) and 10 μM of ascorbic acid were compared. The released hemoglobin absorbance was measured to demonstrate hemolysis. Electron microscopic and immunohistochemical studies were also performed to characterize dysmorphic erythrocyte and osmotic ability in relation to aquaporin- (AQP-) 1 expression, respectively. The results revealed that all doses of PN and ascorbic acid decreased the severity of dysmorphic erythrocyte, particularly echinocyte, acanthocyte, knizocyte, codocyte, clumping, and other malformations. However, the most effective was 0.5 mg/mL PN dosage. In addition, hydrostatic pressure may be increased in dysmorphic erythrocyte in association with AQP-1 upregulation. Our results demonstrated that PN composes antioxidative effect to maintain the integrity and osmotic ability on sheep erythrocyte.
Visible and IR image fusion algorithm for short range smoke detection

Fire Detection Systems are the most important parts of protective and monitoring systems. Although video-based fire detection systems have progressed considerably in recent years, false alarms have been always an unsolved problem in fire detection system. Since visible and infrared images cannot provide clear and full information about the scene of event, the combination of visible and infrared images can play a great role in the detection of fire. In this paper, we combined the data of visible and infrared images for the detection of smoke in short distances. For this purpose, the absence of the smoke in IR images can be used to distinguish between smoke and smoke-like moving objects. Our proposed method consists of two phases. In the first phase, visible and infrared information are applied to generate smoke mask. Thereafter, disorder measurements and energy calculations are employed to study more exactly smoke mask for the reduction of the false alarm. The proposed method of fire detection is very effective and accurate. Our extended simulation results show the superiority of the proposed technique.
Polar Homology

Abstract For complex projective manifolds we introduce polar homology groups, which are holomorphic analogues of the homology groups in topology. The polar $k$ -chains are subvarieties of complex dimension $k$ with meromorphic forms on them, while the boundary operator is defined by taking the polar divisor and the Poincaré residue on it. One can also define the corresponding analogues for the intersection and linking numbers of complex submanifolds, which have the properties similar to those of the corresponding topological notions.
A Multidimensional Environment for the Exploration of Musical Content

In this article a multidimensional environment is defined to allow the exploration of musical content in a novel way by means of three-dimensional interfaces. The environment is created so that musical content can be located in a comprehensive space in which the world coordinates are related to music genres. To this end, the songs in a database are analyzed, and a description of their spectral content is obtained. These descriptions are then projected onto six vectors, previously determined, that represent six main genres defining a global space with six dimensions. These projected representations are useful to create a multidimensional world in which the relations, orientation, and motion will be readily intelligible to users.
Geneticism of essential hypertension.

The idea that a person’s genetic constitution is all-important and that genetic knowledge is sufficiently advanced so that we can make judgments on our past or future health was called geneticism by Medawar.1 He termed geneticism as the application to the human condition of a genetic knowledge or understanding that is assumed to be very much greater than it really is. Proponents of geneticism have promised us that the sequencing of the human genome will offer limitless insights into the pathogenesis of essential hypertension and, moreover, will provide bountiful access to new drug targets and facilitate pharmacological therapy. In terms of citations, only “hypertension and sodium” provokes more “hits” than “hypertension and genetics. ” Nevertheless, with a few exceptions, the results appear disappointing. We might pause and reflect on the answers to the question, “Why? ” In so doing, we should first examine the genetic differences that separate us from one another. The genetic differences between human beings seem to be of 3 types: those based on single gene mutations, those based on polymorphic genetic differences, and those resulting from a complex interaction of many genes. First, there are the differences that divide us into a great majority and a tiny minority. Essential hypertension clearly does not involve a tiny minority and not yet a great majority; however, this state-of-affairs was lost on early students of the subject. When Weitz first proposed the notion of genetic variance on blood pressure, he concluded that essential hypertension was inherited through the actions of a single gene. Because essential hypertension is common, were Weitz correct, we would expect 2 distinct blood pressure distributions in the population, the haves and the have-nots. Indeed, that very argument occupied Platt and Pickering. Platt studied family histories, measured blood pressure in normotensive probands, hypertensive propositi and their relatives, …
Emergent Properties and Structural Constraints: Advantages Diagrammatic Representations for Reasoning and Learning

This paper explores some general issues in diagrammatic reasoning using the domain of geometry as the primary example. Geometry has consistently played an important role as a model domain for studying diagrammatic reasoning and it’s relation to human and machine problem solving. In one of the early Artificial Intelligence papers, Gelernter (1963) showed how problem diagram could help prune backward search in geometry theorem proving. More recently, in an article by Larkin and Simon (1987), which has been a real driving force of much of the current interest in diagrammatic reasoning, the authors turn to geometry as one source of evidence for their claims about the advantages of using diagrams in reasoning. Others have explored the role of visual images in geometric reasoning (Furnas, 1990; Kim, 1989) and learning (Suwa & Motoda, 1991). Without setting out to do so, we have found ourselves contributing to this literature as well. In trying to account for the abstract planning behavior of geometry experts, we discovered that a diagram-based representation provided a much better explanation of this behavior than the standard, sententially-based approaches to abstract planning (Koedinger & Anderson, 1990). We built a computer simulation called DC (the Diagram Configuration model) to demonstrate this. We start the paper by summarizing the work of Larkin and Simon (1987) in characterizing the advantages for diagrammatic representations. Then drawing upon our own experience and the history of research in geometry problem solving, we elaborate on these issues and, in particular, discuss in more detail some advantages that were not fully addressed in Larkin and Simon. While there has been much said about the role of diagrams in problem solving, we also discuss their role in learning and in shaping the representations that result from this learning.
Development of an Algorithm for Surveillance of Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia With Electronic Data and Comparison of Algorithm Results With Clinician Diagnoses

Objective. Surveillance for ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) using standard Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) criteria is labor intensive and involves many subjective assessments. We sought to improve the efficiency and objectivity of VAP surveillance by adapting the CDC criteria to make them amenable to evaluation with electronic data. Design. Prospective comparison of the accuracy of VAP surveillance by use of an algorithm with responses to prospective queries made to intensive care physicians. CDC criteria for VAP were used as a reference standard to evaluate the algorithm and clinicians' reports. Setting. Three surgical intensive care units and 2 medical intensive care units at an academic hospital. Methods. A total of 459 consecutive patients who received mechanical ventilation for a total of 2,540 days underwent surveillance by both methods during consecutive 3-month periods. Electronic surveillance criteria were chosen to mirror the CDC definition. Quantitative thresholds were substituted for qualitative criteria. Purely subjective criteria were eliminated. Increases in ventilator-control settings were taken to indicate worsening oxygenation. Semiquantitative Gram stain of pulmonary secretion samples was used to assess whether there was sputum purulence. Results. The algorithm applied to electronic data detected 20 patients with possible VAP. All cases of VAP were confirmed in accordance with standard CDC criteria (100% positive predictive value). Prospective survey of clinicians detected 33 patients with possible VAP. Seventeen of the 33 possible cases were confirmed (52% positive predictive value). Overall, 21 cases of confirmed VAP were identified by either method. The algorithm identified 20 (95%) of 21 known cases, whereas the survey of clinicians identified 17 (81%) of 21 cases. Conclusions. Surveillance for VAP using electronic data is feasible and has high positive predictive value for cases that meet CDC criteria. Further validation of this method is warranted.
The Critical Mass Problem of Mobile Ad-hoc Networks

Mobile ad-hoc networks have become increasingly popular in the last years and promise a huge potential for the future. Ad-hoc networks allow users to communicate without a fixed network infrastructure, thus are interesting for many mobile communication scenarios. Multi-hop ad-hoc networks extend the communication range of individual nodes with the help of ad-hoc routing protocols. Many researchers focused on lower communication layers and developed several protocols in the past. In this paper, we want to abstract from the physical layer, the data link layer and routing issues and want to measure the quality of an ad-hoc network independently from network and hardware issues. For this, we first introduce a formal network model and a set of metrics. With the help of a simulation tool, we then measure the quality of ad-hoc networks in specific scenarios. We especially want to discover the prerequisites for sufficient connectivity, stability and coverage. We call the number of nodes to form a reasonable network the critical mass. As a result of our simulations, we get a considerable high critical mass for realistic usage scenarios.
Expression of Eukaryotic Initiation Factor 5A and Hypusine Forming Enzymes in Glioblastoma Patient Samples: Implications for New Targeted Therapies

Glioblastomas are highly aggressive brain tumors of adults with poor clinical outcome. Despite a broad range of new and more specific treatment strategies, therapy of glioblastomas remains challenging and tumors relapse in all cases. Recent work demonstrated that the posttranslational hypusine modification of the eukaryotic initiation factor 5A (eIF-5A) is a crucial regulator of cell proliferation, differentiation and an important factor in tumor formation, progression and maintenance. Here we report that eIF-5A as well as the hypusine-forming enzymes deoxyhypusine synthase (DHS) and deoxyhypusine hydroxylase (DOHH) are highly overexpressed in glioblastoma patient samples. Importantly, targeting eIF-5A and its hypusine modification with GC7, a specific DHS-inhibitor, showed a strong antiproliferative effect in glioblastoma cell lines in vitro, while normal human astrocytes were not affected. Furthermore, we identified p53 dependent premature senescence, a permanent cell cycle arrest, as the primary outcome in U87-MG cells after treatment with GC7. Strikingly, combined treatment with clinically relevant alkylating agents and GC7 had an additive antiproliferative effect in glioblastoma cell lines. In addition, stable knockdown of eIF-5A and DHS by short hairpin RNA (shRNA) could mimic the antiproliferative effects of GC7. These findings suggest that pharmacological inhibition of eIF-5A may represent a novel concept to treat glioblastomas and may help to substantially improve the clinical course of this tumor entity.
Time Dependent Bounded Recall Strategies are Enough to Play the Discounted Repeated Prisoners' Dilemma

We show that for any discount factor, there is a natural number $M$ such that all subgame perfect equilibrium outcomes of the discounted repeated prisoners' dilemma can be obtained by subgame perfect equilibrium strategies with the following property: current play depends only on the number of the time-index and on the history of the last $M$ periods. Therefore, players who are restricted to using pure strategies, have to remember, at the most, $M$ periods in order to play any equilibrium outcome of the discounted repeated prisoners' dilemma. This result leads us to introduce the notion of time dependent complexity, and to conclude that in the repeated prisoners' dilemma, restricting attention to finite time dependent complex strategies is enough.
Assessment of ultraviolet B–blocking effects of weekly disposable contact lenses on corneal surface in a mouse model

Purpose Weekly disposable soft contact lenses have been widely used recently, but their shield effects against ultraviolet (UV) irradiation remain to be evaluated. This study investigated the bioprotective effects of several weekly soft contact lenses against UVB irradiation on the corneal surface in a mouse model. Methods Fifty ICR mice were randomly divided into five groups: (1) blank control, (2) exposed to UVB without contact lens protection, (3) exposed to UVB and protected with Vifilcon A contact lenses, (4) exposed to UVB and protected with Etafilcon A contact lenses, and (5) exposed to UVB and protected with HEMA+MA contact lenses. The exposure to UVB irradiation was performed at 0.72 J/cm2/day after anesthesia for a 7-day period, followed by cornea surface assessment for smoothness, opacity, and grading of lissamine green staining. Tissue sections were prepared for hematoxylin and eosin staining and immunohistochemical detection by using antibodies against myeloperoxidase, cytokeratin-5, P63, Ki-67, nuclear factor-kappa B (p65), cyclooxygenase-2, Fas L, and Fas. Results The results showed impaired corneal surface with myeloperoxidase+ polymorphonuclear leukocyte infiltration into the stroma after UVB exposure, in contrast to the intact status of the blank controls. The corneas with Etafilcon A and HEMA+MA contact lenses maintained more cells positive for cytokeratin-5, P63, and Ki-67 compared to those with Vifilcon A or without contact lens protection. Furthermore, less proinflammatory factors, including nuclear factor-kappa (p65), cyclooxygenase-2, Fas L, and Fas, were induced in the corneas protected by Etafilcon A and HEMA+MA. Conclusions This study demonstrated various protective effects of weekly disposable contact lenses against UVB irradiation. The mouse model used in the present study may be used extensively for in vivo assessment of UV shield efficacy.
Measure oriented cost-sensitive SVM for 3D nodule detection

The class imbalance issue occurs when training a computer-aided detection (CAD) system for nodules. This imbalance causes poor prediction performance for true nodules. Moreover, the misclassification costs are different between two classes and high sensitivity of true nodules is essential in the detection. In order to eliminate or reduce the false positives while keeping high sensitivity, we present an effective wrapper framework incorporating the evaluation measure of imbalanced data into the objective function of cost sensitive SVM. We improve the performance of classification by simultaneously optimizing the best pair of misclassification cost parameter, feature subset and intrinsic parameters. We evaluated the method on a 3D Lung nodule dataset, showing that the proposed method outperforms many other exiting common methods, as well as specific imbalanced data learning methods, which indicates the effectiveness of our method on the imbalanced and unequal misclassification cost data classification.
Soft-Data-Constrained Multi-Model Particle Filter for agile target tracking

The performance of Bayesian filtering based methods can be enhanced by using extra information incorporated as specific constraints into the filtering process. Following the same principle, this paper proposes a Soft-Data-Constrained Multi-Model Particle Filtering (SDCMMPF) method, in which the inherently vague human-generated data are modeled using a Fuzzy Inference System (FIS). The soft data are then transformed into a set of constraints, which enable the MMPF method to deal with tracking situations involving potentially highly agile targets. The experimental results demonstrate the capability of the proposed SDCMMPF to significantly outperform the conventional.
The economic advancement of European minority immigrants to the USA

ABSTRACT This study highlights the recent changes in the composition of the Western European immigrant population to the United States. This research examines the growing diversity of this migratory stream, investigating seven groups of immigrants from Western Europe to the USA. Findings show that individuals who were born in Western Europe but whose families have origins outside of Western Europe have been settling in the US in growing numbers. In addition, immigrants from Western Europe of non-European descents carry a higher ethnic penalty when they come to the USA, but most of them advance faster economically than immigrants of Western European descents, besides Sub-Saharan Africans who remain disadvantaged. Three plausible explanations for this phenomenon are tested, and findings show that the gap between the level of discrimination experienced by a given ethnic group in the origin country and the level of discrimination experienced by the same ethnic group in the destination country is the most influential determinant.
Unequal uptake of higher education mobility in the UK. The importance of social segregation in universities and subject areas

Student mobility is the most recognised element of Erasmus+, a major EU policy which celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2017. It is clearly popular with an increase in student uptake from 3.2 to 272.5 thousands from 1987 to 2014. Recent studies show that studying abroad provides benefits like improved employment chances and language competences. These benefits are not equally distributed among graduates, since recent literature shows that disadvantaged students are less likely to study abroad than better off students. This is explained by differing social capital of individuals from diverse socio-economic backgrounds which impacts on different choices. However, not much is known about the role of social segregation in universities and subjects studied. Using multilevel logistic regressions this paper examines two main research questions. First, how important is social segregation in universities and subjects for unequal mobility uptake? Second, how much of existing differences in mobility by socio-economic background can be explained by ability of students? Throughout, results for Erasmus mobility will be compared with those of other mobility schemes organised by higher education institutes. The study exploits population data of more than 500,000 UK graduates of the 2010/11, 2012/13 and 2014/15 cohorts deriving from the Higher Education Statistics Agency data (HESA). Results show that a considerable part of unequal mobility uptake is explained by social segregation in universities and subjects even if graduatesâ€™ upper secondary school grades are taken into account. Policy makers aiming to increase mobility uptake of disadvantaged students could allocate resources for mobility more equally across universities.
Proof complexity

A universal statement of this form is a statement that a propositional formula cannot be satisfied by any truth assignment or, equivalently, that the negation of the formula is a tautology. The qualification ”universal” means, in particular, that proving statements about the non-existence of particular finite objects can be reduced to proving that particular propositional formulas are tautologies.
Topologically Distinct Sets of Non-intersecting Circles in the Plane

Nested parentheses are forms in an algebra which define orders of evaluations. A class of well-formed sets of associated opening and closing parentheses is well studied in conjunction with Dyck paths and Catalan numbers. Nested parentheses also represent cuts through circles on a line. These become topologies of non-intersecting circles in the plane if the underlying algebra is commutative. This paper generalizes the concept and answers quantitatively - as recurrences and generating functions of matching rooted forests - the questions: how many different topologies of nested circles exist in the plane if (i) pairs of circles may intersect, or (ii) even triples of circles may intersect. That analysis is driven by examining the symmetry properties of the inner regions of the fundamental type(s) of the intersecting pairs and triples.