Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
FAST EDGE-DIFFRACTION FOR SOUND PROPAGATION IN COMPLEX VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENTS

We present an algorithm for fast computation of diffraction paths forgeometric-acousticsincomplexenvironmentsbasedontheUTD formulation. Our method extends ray-frustum tracing to efficiently compute paths in the shadow region caused by long diffracting edges. Ourapproachcanhandlegeneralsceneswithmovingsources, receivers, and dynamic objects. We evaluate the accuracy through comparisons with physically validated geometric simulations. In practice, our edge diffraction algorithm can perform sound propagation at nearly interactive rates in dynamic scenarios on a multicore PC.
Lowered HGK expression inhibits cell invasion and adhesion in hepatocellular carcinoma cell line HepG2.

AIM To investigate the effects of RNA interference targeting hepatocyte progenitor kinase-like kinase (HGK) in the invasion and adhesion of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell line HepG2. METHODS Three paired insert DNA fragments specific to HGK gene and one negative control DNA fragment were synthesized and inserted into RNAi-Ready pSIREN-RetroQ-ZsGreen vector. Western blotting assay and real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were used to screen the vector with a highest inhibitory rate. The vector was used to generate recombinant retrovirus specific to HGK. 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl-2h-tetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay was used to examine cell growth; wound closure assay and cell adhesion assay were employed to investigate cell migration and adhesion respectively; and transwell assay and three-dimensional culture invasion assay were used to detect cell invasion. The expressions of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-2, MMP-9 and nuclear factor (NF)-κB were detected by Western blotting assay. RESULTS The real time RT-PCR and Western blotting assay showed that cells transfected with retrovirus mediating RNAi targeting of HGK (RV-shHGK)-1 vector had the strongest inhibition of HGK protein, with an inhibition rate of 76%, and this vector was used to generate recombinant retrovirus RV-shHGK-1. Cell adhesion assay and MTT assay found that cell adhesion and growth of the cells infected with RV-shHGK-1 were significantly lower than those of the control cells (P < 0.05). Wound closure assay, transwell assay and three-dimensional culture invasion assay showed that the cell invasiveness was significantly less in HGK knockdown cells than in the control cells (P < 0.05). The expressions of MMP-2, MMP-9 and NF-κB were inhibited in HepG2 cells infected with RV-shHGK-1. CONCLUSION Down-regulation of HGK can obviously inhibit the migration and invasion of HepG2 cells in vitro. HGK may be a new therapeutic target for treatment of HCC.
Know Thy Neighbor: Towards Optimal Mapping of Contacts to Social Graphs for DTN Routing

Delay Tolerant Networks (DTN) are networks of self-organizing wireless nodes, where end-to-end connectivity is intermittent. In these networks, forwarding decisions are generally made using locally collected knowledge about node behavior (e.g., past contacts between nodes) to predict future contact opportunities. The use of complex network analysis has been recently suggested to perform this prediction task and improve the performance of DTN routing. Contacts seen in the past are aggregated to a social graph, and a variety of metrics (e.g., centrality and similarity) or algorithms (e.g., community detection) have been proposed to assess the utility of a node to deliver a content or bring it closer to the destination. In this paper, we argue that it is not so much the choice or sophistication of social metrics and algorithms that bears the most weight on performance, but rather the mapping from the mobility process generating contacts to the aggregated social graph. We first study two well-known DTN routing algorithms - SimBet and BubbleRap - that rely on such complex network analysis, and show that their performance heavily depends on how the mapping (contact aggregation) is performed. What is more, for a range of synthetic mobility models and real traces, we show that improved performances (up to a factor of 4 in terms of delivery ratio) are consistently achieved for a relatively narrow range of aggregation levels only, where the aggregated graph most closely reflects the underlying mobility structure. To this end, we propose an online algorithm that uses concepts from unsupervised learning and spectral graph theory to infer this 'correct' graph structure; this algorithm allows each node to locally identify and adjust to the optimal operating point, and achieves good performance in all scenarios considered.
Intima‐media thickness in cardiovascularly asymptomatic hypopituitary adults with growth hormone deficiency: relation to body mass index, gender, and other cardiovascular risk factors

Objective Increased cardiovascular mortality and carotid atherosclerosis have been observed in hypopituitary patients with untreated GH deficiency (GHD), but results are contradictory and relations to cardiovascular risk factors are not clear. The aim of this study was to investigate intima‐media thickness (IMT) in relation to cardiovascular risk factors in adults with GHD.
Assessing interethnic admixture using an X‐linked insertion‐deletion multiplex

In this study, a PCR multiplex was optimized, allowing the simultaneous analysis of 13 X‐chromosome Insertion/deletion polymorphisms (INDELs). Genetic variation observed in Africans, Europeans, and Native Americans reveals high inter‐population variability. The estimated proportions of X‐chromosomes in an admixed population from the Brazilian Amazon region show a predominant Amerindian contribution (≅41%), followed by European (≅32%) and African (≅27%) contributions. The proportion of Amerindian contribution based on X‐linked data is similar to the expected value based on mtDNA and Y‐chromosome information. The accuracy for assessing interethnic admixture, and the high differentiation between African, European, and Native American populations, demonstrates the suitability of this INDEL set to measure ancestry proportions in three‐hybrid populations, as it is the case of Latin American populations. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Understanding and addressing dyslexia in travel information provision

This thesis synthesises two previously disparate fields of study by investigating the attitudes and aspirations of dyslexic people regarding travel information provision. One of the first in-depth qualitative studies of its kind is presented, with the findings having significance for academia, professionals and government. There are four main parts to the thesis. Part 1 considers the literature review. Part 2 presents the empirical research strategy adopted (a series of focus groups and a travel ethnography study). Following this, Part 3 presents the empirical research findings. Finally, Part 4 concludes the thesis, introducing discussion of the key findings, the contribution of the research to the fields of study, and avenues for further research in this area. It is clear that the attitude towards disabled people is changing. However, dyslexic people are experiencing the benefits of the social model of disability at a considerably slower rate than other disabled people. This is clearly the case across the transport industry, particularly within travel information provision. At present the distinct needs of dyslexic people are being lost within a 'design-for-all strategy'. Essentially, dyslexic people are facing limited travel horizons and mobility-related exclusion as a result. This thesis effectively supports the drive towards greater recognition and awareness of (and support for) dyslexia within the transport industry. Although the research provides much to consider, it constitutes an important opportunity to positively change this aspect of life for dyslexic people. Dyslexic-friendly travel information can ameliorate the access barriers to transport, which in turn could broaden the travel horizons of these individuals. For Government, the subsequent effects of better information access upon public transport patronage and use of the road network (and the perceptions of the transport industry as a whole) could be extremely positive. It is also certain that the research has the potential to further embed the social model of disability within dyslexia. By changing the fundamental attitudes of the transport industry towards dyslexia would provide a positive step forward in achieving greater social inclusion for dyslexic people. This in turn could provide greater access to opportunities previously unavailable, create better social opportunities, and more positive life experiences.
High Frequency of Repeated Infections Due to Emerging Genotypes of Human Respiratory Syncytial Viruses among Children during Eight Successive Epidemic Seasons in Japan

ABSTRACT In eight successive seasons (2001 to 2009), a total of 726 human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV) infections from a total of 1,560 children with acute lower respiratory tract illness were identified. Molecular analysis of the attachment (G) protein gene confirmed that 52 (7.8%) children were infected more than once with any of the 3 genotypes of HRSV-A (genotypes GA5, NA1, and NA2) and/or 6 genotypes of HRSV-B (genotypes BA4, BA5, and BA7 to BA10). Repeated infections in 46 cases (82.1%) occurred in the next season, and only one case occurred in the same season (10-day interval). First infections were 33 (63.5%) HRSV-A cases and 19 (36.5%) HRSV-B cases, whereas second infections occurred in 35 (67.3%) HRSV-A cases and 17 (32.7%) HRSV-B cases. Third infections were attributed to 4 (100.0%) HRSV-A cases. Homologous subgroup reinfections were detected in 28 cases, 23 HRSV-A cases and 5 HRSV-B cases (P = 0.005), whereas homologous genotype reinfections were detected only for 5 HRSV-A cases (2GA5 and 3NA2) but not any HRSV-B case. Heterologous subgroup reinfections were detected in 28 cases, 12 cases from HRSV-A-to-HRSV-B reinfections and 16 cases from HRSV-B-to-HRSV-A reinfections. Genotypes NA1 and NA2 had higher numbers of heterologous genotype infections than did other genotypes. Our observations suggest that repeated infections occur more frequently in HRSV-A strains than in HRSV-B strains, and heterologous genotype reinfections occur more frequently than homologous genotype reinfections, especially in the case of the emerging genotypes NA1 and NA2 of HRSV-A strains that circulated in the community during our study period.
Right main bronchus perforation detected by 3D-image

A male metal worker, who has never smoked, contracted debilitating dyspnoea in 2003 which then deteriorated until 2007. Spirometry and chest x-rays provided no diagnosis. A 3D-image of the airways was reconstructed from a high-resolution CT (HRCT) in 2007, showing peribronchial air on the right side, mostly along the presegmental airways. After digital subtraction of the image of the peribronchial air, a hole on the cranial side of the right main bronchus was detected. The perforation could be identified at the re-examination of HRCTs in 2007 and 2009, but not in 2010 when it had possibly healed. The occupational exposure of the patient to evaporating chemicals might have contributed to the perforation and hampered its healing. A 3D HRCT reconstruction should be considered to detect bronchial anomalies, including wall-perforation, when unexplained dyspnoea or other chest symptoms call for extended investigation.
From Recurrent Neural Network to Long Short Term Memory Architecture Application to Handwriting Recognition

Despite more than 30 years of handwriting recognition research, Recognizing the unconstrained sequence is still a challenge task. The difficulty of segmenting cursive script has led to the low recognition rate. Hidden Markov Models (HMMs) are considered as state-of-theart methods for performing non-constrained handwriting recognition. However, HMMs have several well-known drawbacks. One of these is that they assume the probability of each observation depends only on the current state, which makes contextual effects difficult to model. Another is that HMMs are generative, while discriminative models generally give better performance in labelling and classification tasks. Recurrent neural networks (RNNs) do not suffer from these limitations, and would therefore seem a promising alternative to HMMs. A novel type of recurrent neural network, termed as Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory (BLSTM) architecture, will be studied in this thesis. A sequence concatenating technique called Connecionist Temporal Classification (CTC) is applied. Finally, Three extended decoding algorithm: Levenshtein Distance(LD), full path(FD), max path(MD) are proposed insighted by HMM to have a lexicon-based classification. The system BLSTM-CTC-FP is demonstrated to be robust to lexicon-based recognition and reduce 50% error than the existing best model.
Combined noise suppression system for monaural cochlear implants

This contribution is devoted to the noise suppression system for monoaural SPEAK-type cochlear implants. The system is based on the combination of the superdirective two-microphone array and the noise suppression post-processing, both implemented in the frequency domain. The relative insensitivity of the two-microphone superdirective system to the spectral magnitude di(cid:11)erences in both channels enables the two-channel noise suppression post-processing. The new criterion originating from the SPEAK coding strategy is used for the evaluation of the whole system.
A Comparison of Spatial and Movement Patterns between Sympatric Predators: Bull Sharks (Carcharhinus leucas) and Atlantic Tarpon (Megalops atlanticus)

Background Predators can impact ecosystems through trophic cascades such that differential patterns in habitat use can lead to spatiotemporal variation in top down forcing on community dynamics. Thus, improved understanding of predator movements is important for evaluating the potential ecosystem effects of their declines. Methodology/Principal Findings We satellite-tagged an apex predator (bull sharks, Carcharhinus leucas) and a sympatric mesopredator (Atlantic tarpon, Megalops atlanticus) in southern Florida waters to describe their habitat use, abundance and movement patterns. We asked four questions: (1) How do the seasonal abundance patterns of bull sharks and tarpon compare? (2) How do the movement patterns of bull sharks and tarpon compare, and what proportion of time do their respective primary ranges overlap? (3) Do tarpon movement patterns (e.g., straight versus convoluted paths) and/or their rates of movement (ROM) differ in areas of low versus high bull shark abundance? and (4) Can any general conclusions be reached concerning whether tarpon may mitigate risk of predation by sharks when they are in areas of high bull shark abundance? Conclusions/Significance Despite similarities in diet, bull sharks and tarpon showed little overlap in habitat use. Bull shark abundance was high year-round, but peaked in winter; while tarpon abundance and fishery catches were highest in late spring. However, presence of the largest sharks (>230 cm) coincided with peak tarpon abundance. When moving over deep open waters (areas of high shark abundance and high food availability) tarpon maintained relatively high ROM in directed lines until reaching shallow structurally-complex areas. At such locations, tarpon exhibited slow tortuous movements over relatively long time periods indicative of foraging. Tarpon periodically concentrated up rivers, where tracked bull sharks were absent. We propose that tarpon trade-off energetic costs of both food assimilation and osmoregulation to reduce predation risk by bull sharks.
Cognitive Neuropsychology and Cognitive Rehabilitation

Overview Chapters: M.J. Riddoch, G.W. Humphreys, Cognitive Neuropsychology and Cognitive Rehabilitation: A Marriage of Equal Partners. M. Coltheart, A. Bates, A. Castles, Cognitive Neuropsychology and Rehabilitation. Visual Object Recognition: Review Chapter: G.W. Humphreys, M.J. Riddoch, Neurological Disturbances of Vision: The Case for a Cognitive Neuroscience Approach to Rehabilitation. Empirical Chapters: E. de Haan, R. Campbell, Developmental Prosopagnosia: A Functional Analysis and Implications for Remediation. G. Sartori, M. Miozzo, R. Job, Rehabilitation of Semantic Memory Impairments. Visual Attention: Review Chapter: M.J. Riddoch, G.W. Humphreys, Towards an Understanding of Unilateral Neglect. Empirical Chapters: E. Ladavas, G. Menghini, C. Umilta, On the Rehabilitation of Hemispatial Neglect. I. Robertson, The Rehabilitation of Hemi-Inattentional and Attentional Disorders: A Review and a Description of Two Randomised Control Trials. S. Lennon, Task Specific Effects in the Rehabilitation of Neglect. P. D'Erme, G. Gainotti, P. Bartolomeo, I. Robertson, Early Ipsilateral Orienting of Attention in Patients with Contralateral Neglect. Motor Performance: Review Chapter: M. Jeannerod, J. Decety, From Motor Images to Motor Programs. Empirical Chapters: Y. Kamsma, Prevention of Early Immobility in Patients with Parkinson's Disease: A Cognitive Training Strategy for Turning in Bed and Rising from a Chair. E. Pilgrim, G.W. Humphreys, Rehabilitation of a Case of Ideomotor Apraxia. Spoken Language and Phonological Skills: Review Chapter: A. Ellis, S. Franklyn, A. Crerar, Cognitive Neuropsychology and the Remediation of Disorders of Spoken Language. Empirical Chapters: C.C. Mitchum, R.S. Berndt, Verb Retrieval and Sentence Construction: Effects of Targetted Intervention. P.H. K. Seymour, F. Bunce, Application of Cognitive Models to Remediation in Cases of Developmental Dyslexia. L.S. Siegal, Phonological Processing Deficits as the Basis of Developmental Dyslexia: Implications for Remediation. R. Johnston, M. Anderson, L.G. Duncan, The Association between Reading Strategies in Poor Readers and their Visual and Phonological Segmentation Skills. Written Language: Review Chapter: K.E. Patterson, Reading, Writing and Rehabilitation: A Reckoning. Empirical Chapters: A.E. Hillis, A. Caramazza, Theories of Lexical Processing and Rehabilitation of Lexical Deficits. S. Cariomagno, A. Lavarone. A. Columbo, Cognitive Approaches to Writing Rehabilitation: From Single Case to Group Studies. R.S. Berndt, C.C. Mitchum, Approaches to the Rehabilitation of Phonological Assembly: Elaborating the Model of Non-Lexical Reading. Memory: Review Chapter: D.L. Schacter. E.L. Glisky, M.A. Butters, Domain-Specific Learning and Remediation of Memory Disorders. Empirical Chapters: A.D. Pickering, The Flexibility of Implicit Memory: An Exploration Using Discrimination Learning. A. Gade, Imagery as a Mnemonic Aid in Amnesia Patients: Effects of Amnesia Subtype and Severity.
The epidemiology of invasive disease due to Haemophilus influenzae serotype a in the Canadian North from 2000 to 2010

Introduction The International Circumpolar Surveillance (ICS) project is a population-based surveillance network. Since 2000, Canada has participated in the ICS Invasive Bacterial Disease Working Group's surveillance of invasive disease due to Haemophilus influenzae (Hi). Methods A standardized case report form containing demographic and clinical information was completed for all reported Hi cases in the study regions. Isolates were sent to a reference laboratory for confirmation and serotyping. Analysis was conducted on all Hi serotype a (Hia) cases reported from 2000 to 2010. The northern Canadian population was estimated using Statistics Canada information. Results Of the 130 Hi cases reported from 2000 to 2010, 72 (56% of cases with serotype information) were due to Hia. The number of Hia cases reported each year ranged from 2 in 2008 to 13 in 2010. The average Hia incidence over the 11 years was 4.6 cases per 100,000 population per year. The majority of Hia occurred in infants less than 2 years of age (73% of cases). This age group had an average annual incidence of 87.5 cases per 100,000 population. Among cases for which ethnicity was indicated, 91% of Hia cases reported Aboriginal status with the average incidence being 6.9 cases per 100,000 population per year. The most common clinical presentation was meningitis (reported in 37% of cases), followed by bacteraemia (34%) and pneumonia (27%). More than 90% of cases were hospitalized, and there were 4 deaths, resulting in a case fatality ratio of 5.6%. Conclusion In the last decade, Hia has become an important cause of morbidity and mortality in the Canadian North. More detailed surveillance information from a national perspective is needed. Further work on vaccine development should be encouraged.
Inhibitory effects of thioredoxin reductase antisense RNA on the growth of human hepatocellular carcinoma cells

Thioredoxin reductase (TrxR) in conjunction with thioredoxin (Trx) is a ubiquitous intracellular oxidoreductase system with antioxidant and redox regulatory roles. In some human tumors, the thioredoxin system is found overexpressed. We have used an antisense approach to investigate whether inhibition of TrxR overexpression can suppress the growth of human hepatocellular carcinoma SMMC‐7721 cells. TrxR cDNA fragment was inserted in the antisense direction into pcDNA3.1/myc‐His and SMMC‐7721 cells were stably transfected with the plasmid construct. The results showed that TrxR antisense RNA could significantly reduce TrxR mRNA level and activity, and suppress the growth of SMMC‐7721 cells. Cell‐cycle analysis showed G2/M phase arrest in SMMC‐7721 cells transfected with TrxR antisense plasmid. TrxR antisense RNA could significantly increase p53 mRNA level and decrease Bcl‐2 mRNA level by reverse transcriptase‐polymerase chain reaction (RT‐PCR). Furthermore a significant decrease in human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT) mRNA level was found in SMMC‐7721 cells transfected with TrxR antisense plasmid. Flow cytometry and telomere fluorescence in situ hybridization (Flow FISH) showed that TrxR antisense RNA could significantly reduce the telomere fluorescence in SMMC‐7721 cells. The results suggested that TrxR antisene RNA inhibited the growth of SMMC‐7721 cells through an accumulation of cell cycle at G2/M phase, an increase in p53 mRNA level and a reduction in telomere fluorescence and Bcl‐2, hTERT mRNA levels. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
Electrical characteristics of highly reliable ultrathin hafnium oxide gate dielectric

Electrical and reliability properties of ultrathin HfO/sub 2/ have been investigated. Pt electroded MOS capacitors with HfO/sub 2/ gate dielectric (physical thickness /spl sim/45-135 /spl Aring/ and equivalent oxide thickness /spl sim/13.5-25 /spl Aring/) were fabricated. HfO/sub 2/ was deposited using reactive sputtering of a Hf target with O/sub 2/ modulation technique. The leakage current of the 45 /spl Aring/ HfO/sub 2/ sample was about 1/spl times/10/sup -4/ A/cm/sup 2/ at +1.0 V with a breakdown field /spl sim/8.5 MV/cm. Hysteresis was <100 mV after 500/spl deg/C annealing in N/sub 2/ ambient and there was no significant frequency dispersion of capacitance (<1%/dec.). It was also found that HfO/sub 2/ exhibits negligible charge trapping and excellent TDDB characteristics with more than ten years lifetime even at V/sub DD/=2.0 V.