Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Nonstationary Multivariate Spatial Covariance Modeling

We derive a class of matrix valued covariance functions where the direct and crosscovariance functions are Matérn. The parameters of the Matérn class are allowed to vary with location, yielding local variances, local ranges, local geometric anisotropies and local smoothnesses. We discuss inclusion of a nonconstant cross-correlation coefficient and a valid approximation. Estimation utilizes kernel smoothed empirical covariance matrices and a locally weighted minimum Frobenius distance that yields local parameter estimates at any location. We derive the asymptotic mean squared error of our kernel smoother and discuss the case when multiple field realizations are available. Finally, the model is illustrated on two datasets, one a synthetic bivariate one-dimensional spatial process, and the second a set of temperature and precipitation model output from a regional climate model.
An analysis of deformation‐dependent electromechanical coupling in the mouse heart

• The amount of force generated by heart cells is strongly influenced by feedback from the deformation of cardiac tissue, both from the changes in cell length and the rate at which cells are stretched. • We analysed the effect these cellular mechanisms have on whole heart function by making a computational model of mouse heart cells, and embedding this cellular model into a representation of the heart. • Unlike previous murine models, this model represents the heart at both body temperature and the high heart rates seen in these animals, allowing us to directly compare results from our computational model with experimental measurements. • Results show that effects from the rate of stretch are especially important for explaining the large differences observed between force generated by isolated cells and pressure measured experimentally. • The model also provides an important framework for future research focused on interpreting results from genetic manipulation experiments in mice.
Curriculum-focused design

In this paper we describe a technique of Curriculum-Focused Design, and the aspects of our research experience on which the technique is based. Our technique is a variant of Druin's Cooperative Inquiry. Cooperative Inquiry is a well-developed design practice for children, but it has been practised largely outside the classroom. Druin's technique has also been developed in American schools, which have greater curriculum flexibility than English schools, which are highly curriculum-focused. We studied the English curriculum and identified an area that we believed could fruitfully be augmented by technology. Our design approach was novel insofar as our evaluation sessions doubled as lessons for students. Our interdisciplinary design team, including a former teacher with over 10 years' classroom experience, evaluated the interface in a classroom setting, providing strong environmental validity to the design process.
Physical-durable performance of concrete incorporating high loss on ignition-fly ash

This study investigates the feasibility of using raw fly ash with a high loss on ignition in concrete. The fly ash-free concrete samples were prepared with different water-to-binder (w/b) ratios of 0.35, 0.40, and 0.45, whereas the fly ash concrete samples were prepared with a constant w/b of 0.40 and with various fly ash contents (10%, 20%, and 30%) as a cement substitution. The physical properties and durability performance of the concretes were evaluated through fresh concrete properties, compressive strength, strength efficiency of cement, ultrasonic pulse velocity, and resistance to sulfate attack. Test results show that the w/b ratio affected the concrete properties significantly. The incorporation of fly ash increased the workability and reduced the unit weight of fresh concrete. In addition, the fly ash concrete samples containing up to 20% fly ash exhibited an improved strength at long-term ages. Further, all of the fly ash concrete samples showed a good durability performance with ultrasonic pulse velocity value of greater than 4100 m/s and a comparable sulfate resistance to the no-fly ash concrete.
Anchor-based proximity measures

We present a family of measures of proximity of an arbitrary node in a directed graph to a pre-specified subset of nodes, called the anchor. Our measures are based on three different propagation schemesand two different uses of the connectivity structure of the graph. We consider a web-specific application of the above measures with two disjoint anchors - good and bad web pages - and study the accuracy of these measures in this context.
ANN based IMC scheme for CSTR

This paper demonstrates that neural networks can be used effectively for control of nonlinear dynamical systems. The proposed control scheme is based on the artificial neural network and is applied to an isothermic continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR). In this paper we have tested the internal model control (IMC) strategy based on neural networks for process systems. This approach of control uses two Feed Forward Neural networks (FFNN), one as an identifier and the other as a controller. Multilayer neural network has been used for forward modeling and the inverse model of the process which has been determined off line using input output data of process, as controller. The modified back propagation algorithm has been used to train the neural networks. Neural network based IMC scheme has been implemented for both set point and regulatory control action and the comparison have been made for a set of constant momentum term.
Open Access Duration of Red Blood Cell Storage Is Associated with Increased Incidence of Deep Vein Thrombosis and in Hospital Mortality in Patients with Traumatic Injuries

which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Abstract Introduction In critically ill patients the relationship between the storage age of red blood cells (RBCs) transfused and outcomes are controversial. To determine if duration of RBC storage is associated with adverse outcomes we studied critically ill trauma patients requiring transfusion.
Remark on quantum mechanics with conformal Galilean symmetry

Conformal Galilei algebra contains so(1,2) subalgebra which is the conformal algebra in one dimension. In this note, we generalize methods previously developed for one-dimensional many-body systems and construct a unitary map relating a quantum mechanics invariant under the conformal Galilean transformations to a set of decoupled particles for which the same symmetry is realized in a nonlocal way. Possible applications of the map are discussed.
Use of intravascular ultrasound for in vivo assessment of changes in intimal thickness of angiographically normal saphenous vein grafts one year after aortocoronary bypass surgery.

OBJECTIVE: To use intravascular ultrasound in vivo to evaluate changes in the intimal thickness of angiographically normal saphenous vein grafts one year after implantation. DESIGN: Fifteen saphenous vein grafts in 12 patients were examined one month and 12 months after aortocoronary bypass graft surgery with intravascular ultrasound using a 30 MHz transducer. None of the grafts examined showed any angiographic abnormalities. The intimal thickness and intimal area of the graft in the proximal portion were measured on intravascular ultrasound images obtained one month and 12 months after operation. SETTING: General hospital. PATIENTS: Twelve patients who underwent aortocoronary bypass graft surgery. RESULTS: The ultrasound images showed a thin-walled graft with a thin intima one month after operation (mean (SD)) (0.31 (0.09) mm). The intimal thickness of the graft increased significantly to 0.65 (0.08) mm (P < 0.001) 12 months after operation. The intimal area of the graft was 0.90 (0.80) mm2 one month after operation. 12 months after operation the intimal area had increased significantly to 5.26 (1.38) mm2 (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Intravascular ultrasound in vivo showed that one year after implantation angiographically normal saphenous vein grafts had a thicker intima than one month after implantation.
Development of rules for controlling the HLsyn speech synthesizer

In this paper we describe the development of rules to drive a quasi-articulatory speech synthesizer, HLsyn. HLsyn has 13 parameters, which are mapped to the parameters of a formant synthesizer. Its small number of parameters combined with the computational simplicity of a formant synthesizer make it a good basis for a text-to-speech system. An overview of the rule-driven system, called VHLsyn, is presented. The system assumes a phonetic string as input, and produces HLsyn parameter tracks as output. These parameter tracks are then used by HLsyn to produce synthesized speech. Previous work to improve the synthesis of consonants and suprasegmental effects is described, and is shown to improve the quality of the output speech. The improvements include refinement of release characteristics of stop consonants, methods for control of vocal-fold parameters for voiced and voiceless consonants, and rules for timing and intonation.
Blockade of TRPM7 Channel Activity and Cell Death by Inhibitors of 5-Lipoxygenase

TRPM7 is a ubiquitous divalent-selective ion channel with its own kinase domain. Recent studies have shown that suppression of TRPM7 protein expression by RNA interference increases resistance to ischemia-induced neuronal cell death in vivo and in vitro, making the channel a potentially attractive pharmacological target for molecular intervention. Here, we report the identification of the 5-lipoxygenase inhibitors, NDGA, AA861, and MK886, as potent blockers of the TRPM7 channel. Using a cell-based assay, application of these compounds prevented cell rounding caused by overexpression of TRPM7 in HEK-293 cells, whereas inhibitors of 12-lipoxygenase and 15-lipoxygenase did not prevent the change in cell morphology. Application of the 5-lipoxygenase inhibitors blocked heterologously expressed TRPM7 whole-cell currents without affecting the protein's expression level or its cell surface concentration. All three inhibitors were also effective in blocking the native TRPM7 current in HEK-293 cells. However, two other 5-lipoxygenase specific inhibitors, 5,6-dehydro-arachidonic acid and zileuton, were ineffective in suppressing TRPM7 channel activity. Targeted knockdown of 5-lipoxygenase did not reduce TRPM7 whole-cell currents. In addition, application of 5-hydroperoxyeicosatetraenoic acid (5-HPETE), the product of 5-lipoxygenase, or 5-HPETE's downstream metabolites, leukotriene B4 and leukotriene D4, did not stimulate TRPM7 channel activity. These data suggested that NDGA, AA861, and MK886 reduced the TRPM7 channel activity independent of their effect on 5-lipoxygenase activity. Application of AA861 and NDGA reduced cell death for cells overexpressing TRPM7 cultured in low extracellular divalent cations. Moreover, treatment of HEK-293 cells with AA861 increased cell resistance to apoptotic stimuli to a level similar to that obtained for cells in which TRPM7 was knocked down by RNA interference. In conclusion, NDGA, AA861, and MK886 are potent blockers of the TRPM7 channel capable of attenuating TRPM7's function during cell stress, making them effective tools for the biophysical characterization and suppression of TRPM7 channel conductance in vivo.
A trace-based service level planning framework for enterprise application clouds

As enterprises increasingly adopt the cloud paradigm, there is a need for tools that can help cloud service providers (SPs) decide on service level agreements with customers. Existing approaches have not considered several important challenges such as workload burstiness, workload uncertainty, and scalability that need to be addressed to realize such tools. This paper describes a trace-based framework developed to consider these issues. We present simulation experiments that show that our framework is scalable and provides more accurate planning insights to SPs than those that ignore complex workload behaviour such as burstiness. Furthermore, the results also illustrate how SPs can exploit our framework to assess the risks of workload uncertainty.
Tropospheric ozone budget: regional and global calculations

Abstract. Results from a tropospheric three-dimensional chemical transport model (TOMCAT) have been used to examine the terms of the ozone budget, both regionally and globally. The global calculations are discussed in light of other published estimates. Regional budgets are calculated for continental regions, including the American Mid-West, Sahara, and central Europe. These are compared with regional budgets for oceanic regions, including the Azores High and the Tropical Pacific Warm Pool. Furthermore, the coastal region of the UK and Ireland is also considered. The validity of these regional budgets from TOMCAT are discussed by comparing TOMCAT with measurements from a number of aircraft campaigns. The budgets for central Europe and the American Mid-West indicate that continental regions dominate the ozone budget of the northern extratropics. This is in spite of the remote oceanic regions being photochemical sinks for ozone. The regional budget calculations for the UK and Ireland exhibit net photochemical production of ozone in the boundary layer but this is not consistent with available aircraft measurements. This is attributed to the coarse horizontal resolution of the TOMCAT model which results in the model's photochemical budget being more typical of a polluted continental region than a relatively remote one. On the other hand, the ozone photochemical rates calculated for the Azores High and the Tropical Pacific Warm Pool agree rather well with other estimates.
Cerebral causes and consequences of parkinsonian resting tremor: a tale of two circuits?

Tremor in Parkinson's disease has several mysterious features. Clinically, tremor is seen in only three out of four patients with Parkinson's disease, and tremor-dominant patients generally follow a more benign disease course than non-tremor patients. Pathophysiologically, tremor is linked to altered activity in not one, but two distinct circuits: the basal ganglia, which are primarily affected by dopamine depletion in Parkinson's disease, and the cerebello-thalamo-cortical circuit, which is also involved in many other tremors. The purpose of this review is to integrate these clinical and pathophysiological features of tremor in Parkinson's disease. We first describe clinical and pathological differences between tremor-dominant and non-tremor Parkinson's disease subtypes, and then summarize recent studies on the pathophysiology of tremor. We also discuss a newly proposed ‘dimmer-switch model’ that explains tremor as resulting from the combined actions of two circuits: the basal ganglia that trigger tremor episodes and the cerebello-thalamo-cortical circuit that produces the tremor. Finally, we address several important open questions: why resting tremor stops during voluntary movements, why it has a variable response to dopaminergic treatment, why it indicates a benign Parkinson's disease subtype and why its expression decreases with disease progression.
The current status and future perspectives of laparoscopic surgery for gastric cancer

Gastric cancer is most common cancer in Korea. Surgery is still the main axis of treatment. Due to early detection of gastric cancer, the innovation of surgical instruments and technological advances, gastric cancer treatment is now shifting to a new era. One of the most astonishing changes is that minimally invasive surgery (MIS) is becoming more dominant treatment for early gastric cancer. These MIS are represented by endoscopic resection, laparoscopic surgery, robotic surgery, single-port surgery and natural orifice transluminal endoscopic surgery. Among them, laparoscopic gastrectomy is most actively performed in the field of surgery. Laparoscopy-assisted distal gastrectomy (LADG) for early gastric cancer (EGC) has already gained popularity in terms of the short-term outcomes including patient's quality of life. We only have to wait for the long-term oncologic results of Korean Laparoscopic Gastrointestinal Surgery Study Group. Upcoming top issues following oncologic safety of LADG are function-preserving surgery for EGC, application of laparoscopy to advanced gastric cancer and sentinel lymph node navigation surgery. In the aspect of technique, laparoscopic surgery at present could reproduce almost the whole open procedures. However, the other fields mentioned above need more evidences and experiences. All these new ideas and attempts provide technical advances, which will minimize surgical insults and maximize the surgical outcomes and the quality of life of patients.
Reducing cross-coupling among interconnect wires in deep-submicron datapath design

As CMOS technology enters the deep submicron design era, the lateral inter-wire coupling capacitance becomes the dominant part of load capacitance and makes RC delay on the bus structures very data-dependent. Reducing the cross-coupling capacitance is crucial for achieving high-speed as well as lower power operation. In this paper, we propose two interconnect layout design methodologies for minimizing the "cross-coupling effect" in the design of full-custom datapath. Firstly, we describe the control signal ordering scheme which was shown to minimize the switching power consumption by 10% and wire delay by 15% for a given set of benchmark examples. Secondly, a track assignment algorithm based on evolutionary programming was used to minimize the cross-coupling capacitance. Experimental results have shown that chip performance improvement of as much as 40% can be obtained using the proposed interconnect schemes in various stages of the datapath layout optimization.
Folded-current-steering DAC: an approach to low-voltage high-speed high-resolution D/A converters

In this paper, a new topology for CMOS current steering DAC, i.e. folded current-steering structure, suitable for low-voltage applications is presented. Using the folded structure, more voltage headroom is available for the current-source devices increasing the output impedance of the current sources. The DAC linearity is thus improved. Also this novel topology improves the value of PSRR and output voltage swing without SFDR degradation and results in more constant load for current cell. Also a current-steering logic decoder with differential outputs is suggested. Besides, gain boosting is applied to increase the output impedance of current source. These techniques are used to design a 12-bit 200MS/s DAC with 1.5-V power supply and more than 72dB SFDR is achieved in all frequencies. Also Monte-Carlo simulations show that the probability of an SFDR of more than 65dB is more than 90% for an input frequency of 100MHz
Personal informatics in chronic illness management

Many people with chronic illness suffer from debilitating symptoms or episodes that inhibit normal day-to-day function. Pervasive tools offer the possibility to help manage these conditions, particularly by helping people understand their conditions. But, it is unclear how to design these tools, as prior designs have focused on effortful tracking and many see those tools as a burden to use. We report here on an interview study with 12 individuals with chronic illnesses who collect personal data. We learn that these people are motivated through self-discovery and curiosity. We explore how these concepts may support the design of tools that engage curiosity and encourage self-discovery, rather than emphasize the behaviour change aspect of chronic illness management.
Structure, mineralogy, and microbial diversity of geothermal spring microbialites associated with a deep oil drilling in Romania

Modern mineral deposits play an important role in evolutionary studies by providing clues to the formation of ancient lithified microbial communities. Here we report the presence of microbialite-forming microbial mats in different microenvironments at 32°C, 49°C, and 65°C around the geothermal spring from an abandoned oil drill in Ciocaia, Romania. The mineralogy and the macro- and microstructure of the microbialites were investigated, together with their microbial diversity based on a 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing approach. The calcium carbonate is deposited mainly in the form of calcite. At 32°C and 49°C, the microbialites show a laminated structure with visible microbial mat-carbonate crystal interactions. At 65°C, the mineral deposit is clotted, without obvious organic residues. Partial 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing showed that the relative abundance of the phylum Archaea was low at 32°C (<0.5%) but increased significantly at 65°C (36%). The bacterial diversity was either similar to other microbialites described in literature (the 32°C sample) or displayed a specific combination of phyla and classes (the 49°C and 65°C samples). Bacterial taxa were distributed among 39 phyla, out of which 14 had inferred abundances >1%. The dominant bacterial groups at 32°C were Cyanobacteria, Gammaproteobacteria, Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, Thermi, Actinobacteria, Planctomycetes, and Defferibacteres. At 49°C, there was a striking dominance of the Gammaproteobacteria, followed by Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, and Armantimonadetes. The 65°C sample was dominated by Betaproteobacteria, Firmicutes, [OP1], Defferibacteres, Thermi, Thermotogae, [EM3], and Nitrospirae. Several groups from Proteobacteria and Firmicutes, together with Halobacteria and Melainabacteria were described for the first time in calcium carbonate deposits. Overall, the spring from Ciocaia emerges as a valuable site to probe microbes-minerals interrelationships along thermal and geochemical gradients.
Treating patients with ventricular ectopic beats

Ventricular ectopic beats (VEBs) are commonly seen in daily clinical practice. They are largely asymptomatic but can cause upsetting symptoms in some patients. In normal hearts, their occurrence is usually associated with no clinical significance. However, there are occasions where the presence of VEBs signifies a susceptibility towards more sinister arrhythmias, especially when heart disease is present. In some patients, VEBs are triggered by the same mechanism that gives rise to ventricular tachycardia which can be cured with catheter ablation. In addition, there are recent reports on the use of catheter ablation in cases where focal ventricular ectopics are found to trigger ventricular fibrillation. Appropriate clinical evaluation and investigations are important in assessing patients with VEBs so that effective treatment can be targeted when necessary. This article discusses the current knowledge and practice in this commonly encountered clinical cardiological problem. The first recorded description of intermittent perturbations interrupting the regular pulse, that could be consistent with VEBs, was from the early Chinese physician Pien Ts’Io, around 600 BC, who was the master in pulse palpation and diagnosis.1 He noted that these irregularities did not interfere with normal lifespan when they were occasional but an ominous prognosis was implied if they were frequent. This was shown to be so in more recent times where patients who have had a myocardial infarct were more prone to sudden death if they had frequent ventricular ectopics. Lown and colleagues2 proposed a classification and grading of ventricular ectopics based on their frequency and complexity. This triggered the widely accepted dogma that increasing “severity” of ventricular ectopic activity was directly related to the risk of malignant ventricular arrhythmias and considerable effort had been spent in developing and employing antiarrhythmic drugs to suppress ectopics in the 1960s and ’70s. This was set to change. VEBs …