Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Electromechanical reshaping of rabbit septal cartilage: a six needle electrode geometric configuration

Electromechanical reshaping (EMR) of cartilage is a novel technique that has significant potential for use in facial reconstructive surgery. EMR achieves permanent shape change by initiating electrochemical redox reactions in the vicinity of stress concentrations, thereby altering mechanical properties of tissue matrix. This study reports the use of a six electrode needle-based geometric configuration to reshape cartilage. Rectangular samples (24 x 12 x 1 mm) of rabbit nasal septal cartilages were bent at a right angle in a precision-machined reshaping jig. Two parallel arrays of three platinum needle electrodes were each inserted into cartilage along the bend at 3 mm from the bend line. One array served as an anode and the other as cathode. Constant voltage at 1, 2, 4, 6, and 8 volts was applied to the arrays for 2 minutes. The specimens were then removed from the jig and rehydrated for 15 minutes in phosphate buffered saline. Following rehydration, bend angles and thicknesses were measured. Bend angle increased with increasing voltage and application time. No statistically significant bending was observed below 6 volts for 2 minutes application time. Maximum bend angle of 33 ± 8 degrees or reshaping degree of 33% was observed at 8 volts applied for 2 minutes. Current flow was small (< 0.1 A) for each case. Sample thickness was 0.9 ± 0.2 mm. ANOVA analysis showed that cartilage thickness had no significant impact on the extent of reshaping at given voltage and application time. The six needle electrode geometric configuration conforms to the voltage- and time-dependent trends predicted by previous EMR studies. In the future, the reshaping properties of other geometric configurations will be explored.
Impact of kidney transplantation on sleep apnoea in patients with end-stage renal disease.

BACKGROUND Sleep apnoea is common in patients with end-stage renal disease. Although individual case reports have described an improvement in sleep apnoea following kidney transplantation, there have been no longitudinal studies of a case series to determine what proportion of patients with sleep apnoea improve. METHODS Dialysis-dependent patients awaiting kidney transplantation and pre-dialysis patients with an identified living donor kidney had overnight polysomnography, which was repeated several months after successful kidney transplantation. Patients were divided into apnoeic and non-apnoeic groups based on an apneoa-hypopnoea index (AHI) > 10/h during pre-transplant polysomnography and, following transplantation, apnoeic patients were further divided into responders and non-responders based on >50% reduction in AHI and/or AHI < 10/h. RESULTS Eighteen patients (11 men, 7 women), aged 27-65, were studied. Pre-transplant sleep apnoea was present in 11 of 18 (61%) patients. Although transplantation was associated with a significant reduction in blood urea nitrogen and serum creatinine, there were no significant changes in AHI (pre vs post: 20.2 +/- 15.1 vs 23.5 +/- 21.3). Among the 11 apnoeic patients, only three met the criteria for a significant improvement ('responder'). There were no patient characteristics, sleep apnoea indices or renal function changes that distinguished responders from non-responders. CONCLUSIONS Sleep apnoea improves in a minority of patients with end-stage renal disease following successful kidney transplantation. Specific determinants of improvement were not identified.
The MATE Markup Framework

Since early 1998, the European Telematics project MATE has worked towards facilitating re-use of annotated spoken language data, addressing theoretical issues and implementing practical solutions which could serve as standards in the field. The resulting MATE Workbench for corpus annotation is now available as licensed open source software.This paper describes the MATE markup framework which bridges between the theoretical and the practical activities of MATE and is proposed as a standard for the definition and representation of markup for spoken dialogue corpora. We also present early experience from use of the framework.
Improvement Properties of Recycled Polypropylene by Reinforcement of Coir Fiber

This research was to study the related mechanical and thermal properties of recycled polypropylene from post consumer containers reinforced with coir fiber. Surface of coir fiber was treated with sodium hydroxide to remove lignin and hemicelluloses and likely to improve the interfacial adhesion in the composites. The composites of treated coir fiber and recycled polypropylene were prepared by varying the coir fiber contents at 5%, 10% and 20% by weight using a twin screw extruder. The thermal properties were investigated by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimeter (DSC). The results from TGA showed that thermal stability of the composites was lower than that of recycled polypropylene resin and thermal stability decreased with increasing coir fiber content. From DSC results, it indicated that the crystallinity of treated coir fiber composites increased as a function of fiber content. The mechanical properties of injection-molded samples were studied by universal testing machine. The treated coir fiber composites produced enhanced mechanical properties. The tensile strength, tensile modulus and impact strength of modified coir fiber/recycled polypropylene composites increased as a function of coir fiber content.
CHIME: An Efficient Error-Tolerant Chinese Pinyin Input Method

Chinese Pinyin input methods are very important for Chinese language processing. In many cases, users may make typing errors. For example, a user wants to type in "shenme" (? , meaning "what" in English) but may type in "shenem" instead. Existing Pinyin input methods fail in converting such a Pinyin sequence with errors to the right Chinese words. To solve this problem, we developed an efficient error-tolerant Pinyin input method called "CHIME" that can handle typing errors. By incorporating state-of-the-art techniques and language-specific features, the method achieves a better performance than state-of-the-art input methods. It can efficiently find relevant words in milliseconds for an input Pinyin sequence.
Blue and Near-Ultraviolet Vertical-Cavity Surface-Emitting Lasers

Vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers (VCSELs) based on gallium nitride semiconductor heterostructures represent a contemporary focus of research, the aim of which is to develop a new class of planar microdevices in the blue, violet, and near-ultraviolet ranges. We review recent progress in this exploratory area, to highlight the challenges and scientific excitement associated with the efforts that are under way to create flexible, short-wavelength sources for applications expected to range from biomedical diagnostics to solid-state displays and lighting.
High-performance sparse matrix-vector multiplication on GPUs for structured grid computations

In this paper, we address efficient sparse matrix-vector multiplication for matrices arising from structured grid problems with high degrees of freedom at each grid node. Sparse matrix-vector multiplication is a critical step in the iterative solution of sparse linear systems of equations arising in the solution of partial differential equations using uniform grids for discretization. With uniform grids, the resulting linear system Ax = b has a matrix A that is sparse with a very regular structure. The specific focus of this paper is on sparse matrices that have a block structure due to the large number of unknowns at each grid point. Sparse matrix storage formats such as Compressed Sparse Row (CSR) and Diagonal format (DIA) are not the most effective for such matrices. In this work, we present a new sparse matrix storage format that takes advantage of the diagonal structure of matrices for stencil operations on structured grids. Unlike other formats such as the Diagonal storage format (DIA), we specifically optimize for the case of higher degrees of freedom, where formats such as DIA are forced to explicitly represent many zero elements in the sparse matrix. We develop efficient sparse matrix-vector multiplication for structured grid computations on GPU architectures using CUDA [25].
Brillouin scattering from polymers and gels

We report results from Brillouin scattering on highly swollen and crosslinked polymeric gels, i.e. methyl methacrylate (MMA) gels crosslinked with ethylene dimethacrylate (EDMA). The study is performed varying the crosslink amount of the gels from 0 to 6%. The Brillouin spectra are measured at different scattering wavevectors in the angular ranges 90°–150°. Ve also measured the spectra at constant wavevector (90°) changing the scattering volume, in particular we select the size and the positions of the sample scattering volume. The wavevector dependence of the measured quantities confirms that in our system a micro—phase separation phenomenon takes place. In particular, for samples with crosslink contents higher than 3%, Brillouin data (studied in terms of the group velocity) give information about the existence of well defined solid- and liquid-like islands (heterogeneities in the gel structure) with an extent of several hundred Angstroms (as confirmed by elastic scattering data). Furthermore, selecting different spatial positions of the scattering volume (of micrometric sizes) and the overall sizes of the same, and performing the measurements at different times, we are able to observe (for the first time with Brillouin scattering) the non–ergodic behavior typical of this system. We report here preliminary results of such a study.
2MTF. I. THE TULLY–FISHER RELATION IN THE TWO MICRON ALL SKY SURVEY J, H, AND K BANDS

The Two Micron All-Sky Survey (2MASS) Tully–Fisher Survey (2MTF) aims to measure Tully–Fisher (TF) distances to all bright inclined spirals in the 2MASS Redshift Survey (2MRS). Essential to this project is a universal calibration of the TF relation in the 2MASS J (1.2 μm), H (1.6 μm), and K (2.2 μm) bands. We present the first bias-corrected or universal TF template in these bands. We find that the slope of the TF relation becomes steeper as the wavelength increases being close to L ∝ v4 in the K band and L ∝ v3.6 in the J and H bands. We also investigate the dependence on galaxy morphology showing that in all three bands the relation is steeper for later-type spirals which also have a dimmer TF zero point than earlier-type spirals. We correct the final relation to that for Sc galaxies. Finally we study the scatter from the TF relation fitting for a width-dependent intrinsic scatter which is not found to vary significantly with wavelength.
The prevalence and types of glaucoma in malay people: the Singapore Malay eye study.

PURPOSE To assess the prevalence and types of glaucoma in an Asian Malay population. METHODS The Singapore Malay Eye Study is a population-based, cross-sectional survey that examined 3280 (78.7% response) persons aged 40 to 80 years. Participants underwent a standardized clinical examination including slit-lamp biomicroscopy, Goldmann applanation tonometry, and dilated optic disc assessment. Participants who were suspected to have glaucoma also underwent visual field examination (24-2 SITA standard, Humphrey Visual Field Analyzer II), gonioscopy, and repeat applanation tonometry. Glaucoma was defined according to International Society for Geographical and Epidemiologic Ophthalmology criteria. RESULTS Of the 3280 participants, 150 (4.6%) had diagnosed glaucoma, giving an age- and sex-standardized prevalence of 3.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], 3.3%-3.5%). The age- and sex-standardized prevalence of primary open-angle glaucoma was 2.5% (95% CI, 2.4%-2.6%), primary angle-closure glaucoma 0.12% (95% CI, 0.10%-0.14%), and secondary glaucoma 0.61% (95% CI, 0.59%-0.63%). Of the 150 glaucoma cases, only 12 (8%) had a previous known history of glaucoma. Twenty-seven (18%) eyes had low vision (based on best corrected visual acuity logarithm of the minimal angle of resolution [logMAR] >0.30 to <1.00 in the eye with glaucoma for unilateral cases; and based on the better eye for bilateral cases) and 15 (10%) were blind (logMAR, >/=1.00). CONCLUSIONS The prevalence of glaucoma among Malay persons 40 years of age and older in Singapore is 3.4%, comparable to ethnic Chinese people in Singapore and other racial/ethnic groups in Asia. As in Chinese, Caucasians, and African people, primary open-angle glaucoma was the main form of glaucoma in this population. More than 90% of glaucoma cases were previously undetected.
Predicting missing biomarker data in a longitudinal study of Alzheimer disease

Objective: To investigate predictors of missing data in a longitudinal study of Alzheimer disease (AD). Methods: The Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI) is a clinic-based, multicenter, longitudinal study with blood, CSF, PET, and MRI scans repeatedly measured in 229 participants with normal cognition (NC), 397 with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and 193 with mild AD during 2005–2007. We used univariate and multivariable logistic regression models to examine the associations between baseline demographic/clinical features and loss of biomarker follow-ups in ADNI. Results: CSF studies tended to recruit and retain patients with MCI with more AD-like features, including lower levels of baseline CSF Aβ42. Depression was the major predictor for MCI dropouts, while family history of AD kept more patients with AD enrolled in PET and MRI studies. Poor cognitive performance was associated with loss of follow-up in most biomarker studies, even among NC participants. The presence of vascular risk factors seemed more critical than cognitive function for predicting dropouts in AD. Conclusion: The missing data are not missing completely at random in ADNI and likely conditional on certain features in addition to cognitive function. Missing data predictors vary across biomarkers and even MCI and AD groups do not share the same missing data pattern. Understanding the missing data structure may help in the design of future longitudinal studies and clinical trials in AD.
Possible and necessary winner problem in social polls

Social networks are increasingly being used to conduct polls. We introduce a simple model of such social polling. We suppose agents vote sequentially, but the order in which agents choose to vote is not necessarily fixed. We also suppose that an agent's vote is influenced by the votes of their friends who have already voted. Despite its simplicity, this model provides useful insights into a number of areas including social polling, sequential voting, and manipulation. We prove that the number of candidates and the network structure affect the computational complexity of computing which candidate necessarily or possibly can win in such a social poll. For social networks with bounded treewidth and a bounded number of candidates, we provide polynomial algorithms for both problems. In other cases, we prove that computing which candidates necessarily or possibly win are computationally intractable.
Quality of Care and Mortality among Long-term Care Residents with Dementia

Seniors with dementia who enter long-term care facilities are at greater risk of death than are similar individuals that remain in the community. Previous research has focused primarily on social selection factors such as health status to explain mortality in this population. This study seeks to determine whether resident mortality within 12 months of admission to a facility can be explained by post-admission social causative factors, that is, by institutional quality of care. Logistic regression results are based on the study of 402 residents in 73 long-term care facilities throughout British Columbia, Canada. Mortality data were obtained from Vital Statistics. Although social selection factors (e.g., physical dependency) emerge as the strongest predictors, one social causative factor – facility level restraint use – also predicts mortality. This study provides some evidence that social causative factors play a role in determining mortality among long-term care residents with dementia. Further research on the social causative factors is needed to understand the degree to which they affect mortality, and the way in which they do so.
Attractive Flicker — Guiding Attention in Dynamic Narrative Visualizations

Focus-context techniques provide visual guidance in visualizations by giving strong visual prominence to elements of interest while the context is suppressed. However, finding a visual feature to enhance for the focus to pop out from its context in a large dynamic scene, while leading to minimal visual deformation and subjective disturbance, is challenging. This paper proposes Attractive Flicker, a novel technique for visual guidance in dynamic narrative visualizations. We first show that flicker is a strong visual attractor in the entire visual field, without distorting, suppressing, or adding any scene elements. The novel aspect of our Attractive Flicker technique is that it consists of two signal stages: The first “orientation stage” is a short but intensive flicker stimulus to attract the attention to elements of interest. Subsequently, the intensive flicker is reduced to a minimally disturbing luminance oscillation (“engagement stage”) as visual support to keep track of the focus elements. To find a good trade-off between attraction effectiveness and subjective annoyance caused by flicker, we conducted two perceptual studies to find suitable signal parameters. We showcase Attractive Flicker with the parameters obtained from the perceptual statistics in a study of molecular interactions. With Attractive Flicker, users were able to easily follow the narrative of the visualization on a large display, while the flickering of focus elements was not disturbing when observing the context.
Realizing Affect in Speech Classification in Real-Time

Robots can recognize pitch, perceived loudness, or simple categories such as positive or negative attitude in real-time from speech. Existing research has demonstrated specialized systems able to perform these operations. Additionally, off-line classification has shown that affect can be classified at rates that are better than random although worse than human performance. Taken together, this previous research indicates the possibility of real-time classification of a variety of affective states. We are exploring this problem with the eventual goal of designing an field-programmable gate array (FPGA) based system that will rapidly process relevant features in parallel.
Improved HW/SW partitioning algorithm on efficient use of hardware resource

This paper improved the greedy partitioning algorithm targeting hardware resource use efficiency in traditional partitioning algorithms. In the improved algorithm, introduced a guiding function, which decided by four factors: the criticality, saved time, frequency and area of tasks. The improved algorithm can not only improve the resource use efficiency, but also pay attention to the task on the critical path, which can maximized the performance of the system. On the basis of this, the designer can design the system with low power methods, minimized the power consumption as well as satisfy the system performance.
Mobilization of intracellular calcium stores participates in the rise of [Ca2+]i and the toxic actions of the HIV coat protein GP120

The HIV envelope glycoprotein, GP120, increases intracellular Ca2+ concentration and induces degeneration of human and animal neurons in culture. Using patch‐clamp recordings and Ca2+ imaging techniques, we have now examined the contribution of intracellular stores of calcium in the effects of GP120. We report that in rat hippocampal neuronal cultures, GP120 induces a dramatic and persistent increase in [Ca2+]i which is prevented by drugs that either deplete (caffeine, carbachol, thapsigargin) or block (dantrolene) Ca2+ release from intracellular stores. In contrast, N‐methyl‐d‐aspartate (NMDA) receptors or voltage‐dependent calcium channels do not participate in these effects, as: (i) the increase in [Ca2+]i was not affected by NMDA receptor antagonists or calcium channel blockers; and (ii) and GP120 did not generate any current in whole‐cell recording. Dantrolene, a ryanodine stores inhibitor, also prevented neuronal death induced by GP120. Our results show that the GP120‐induced rise in [Ca2+]i originates from intracellular calcium stores, and suggest that intracellular stores of calcium may play a determinant role in the pathological actions of GP120.
β- and α2-Adrenoceptor Control of Vascular Tension and Catecholamine Release in Female Normotensive and Spontaneously Hypertensive Rats

As in humans, young, female, spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) have a lower blood pressure than male SHR. In male, normotensive rats (WKY), α2- and β1+2-adrenoceptors (AR) reciprocally controlled catecholamine release and vascular smooth muscle tension. This interaction was malfunctioning in male SHR. The present study analyzed if a favorable shift in the α2/β1+2AR interaction may represent an antihypertensive protection in females. Female SHR (early hypertension, 12–14 weeks) and age-matched WKY were infused with tyramine (15 min) to stimulate norepinephrine (NE) release through the reuptake transporter, consequently preventing reuptake. Presynaptic control of vesicular release was therefore reflected as differences in overflow to plasma. The released NE increased total peripheral vascular resistance (TPR). The results showed that β1>2AR facilitated tyramine-stimulated NE release in both strains, also in the presence of α2AR-antagonist (L-659,066). βAR-antagonist (atenolol-β1, ICI-118551-β2, nadolol-β1+2) had no effect on the increased secretion of epinephrine after L-659,066 in WKY, but β1>2AR-antagonist augmented the L-659,066-induced increase in the secretion of epinephrine in SHR. Nadolol increased the TPR response to tyramine with a greater effect in WKY than SHR, whereas β1or2-selective antagonists did not. One βAR-subtype may therefore substitute for the other. When both β1+2AR were blocked, α2AR-antagonist still reduced the TPR response in WKY but not SHR. Thus, α2/β1+2AR reciprocally controlled catecholamine release, with a particular negative β1AR-influence on α2AR-auto-inhibition of epinephrine secretion in SHR. Moreover, in these female rats, β1/2AR-independent α2AR-mediated vasoconstriction was seen in WKY but not SHR, but β1/2AR-mediated vasodilation downregulated adrenergic vasoconstriction, not only in WKY but also in SHR.